🚀 go-pugleaf

There is a concept in the U.S. called restraint of trade. A corporation
can't require a copyright notice to be an integral part of the function
of a machine. A competitor would simply put the copyright notice in
his machine because it is required to make it work. If IBM objects
on copyright infringements there is a good case that the intent of the
copyright is to restrain compitition. A court would likely rule that
the copyright is now part of the communications protocol and therefore
in the public domain.  A copyright lawyer told me this when I was at
another company and we were considering somthing like that. I doubt
IBM whould risk loosing their copyright notice to the public domain or
the possible punitive action resulting from obvious restraint of trade.

-- 

	Mike Mahar
	UUCP: {turtlevax, cae780}!weitek!mahar

	Disclaimer: The above opinions are, in fact, not opinions.
	They are facts.