[H-GEN] Fwd: [research] Request for expert witness

[Peter McConnell]

* Paul Gearon (gearon at ieee.org) wrote:
> >
> >I have no idea from the content of this letter, how this matter
> >relates:
> >        1. To myself.
> >        2. To the Open Source community.
> 
> If it doesn't relate to you, then don't bother with it.  For OSS,  
> obviously it doesn't apply here either.  I'm not suggesting that  
> anyone has to help, only that they might like to.

The point here is that this is a discussion list. So that
even if I somebody doesnt want to help, they are free to 
discuss why they dont want to help.


> 
> I guess the reason it seemed interesting to me is that I've seen a  
> lot of people writing Javascript use and adapt Javascript from other  
> people's pages.  It's probably against copyright law, but it's also  
> common (should I say rampant?).  Sourcecode is one thing, but client  
> 
And it is interesting enough to discuss on this list.

> >A programmer is employed by a company for a peiod of time to
> >develop something, which was copied from somewhere else. He
> >then leaves and uses the code in direct opposition to his
> >original employer.
> >I would question the ethics of this person.
> 
> This may be, but it's hard to draw inferences from such a short email.
> 
Here ethics is another subject that we can thrash about, and  although
you may not be able to draw inferences from such a short email it 
is something we can discuss.

> Actually, my bigger concern was further on....
> 
> >>>>issue is that he copied two small JavaScript files - which when the
> >>>>original software was developed, were probably copied from  
> >>>>elsewhere.
> 
> All the same, given the amount of Javascript that I've seen reused, I  
> think this could be of interest to *someone* in the group.  (just so  
> you know... I've never deployed any Javascript myself)

My bigger concern is that the original letter was so vague, that
you are unsure  what he was being sued for. Sure they mention 
some javascript, but he may be being sued for breaching a
confidentiality agreement he signed when gaining employment.


> Anyway, sorry if I've offended.  Please ignore if appropriate.

The original letter did not offend, and actually it helped me
narrow down my selection of lawyers, if ever I need legal
representation.


regards


Peter