Posted by: Hyperbunny
on October 05, 2004 03:45 PM
I've been writing software, both open source and proprietary, for over 20 years however, it's only in the last four years that I've been obliged to call in the legal brigade on a regular (all too regular) basis.
I live and work in South Africa. I think the best way to sum up the situation on litigation here is: "Avoid it at all costs!" The costs of legal representation is prohibitive and courts rarely (if ever) consider consequential losses resulting from pre-emptive or tactical litigation. I can only surmise that Dan Ravicher hasn't been to SA if he believes that: "...many lawyers are willing to consider representation of free software clients either pro-bono or on contingency...". The attorneys and advocates I have been dealing with over the past few years wouldn't represent their grandmothers on a pro-bono basis and, with the costs being generally awarded on the 'party and party' scale (about 40 - 50% of the real cost) it's a brave man who takes on a case here against a big opponent (such as the evil MS)
Another problem in smaller countries such as ours is that there are few attorneys who have the appropriate experience to deal with IP and copyright issues. Also, many of our statutory enactments on such matters are untried and legal opinion largely derives from US & UK precedents rather than local precedent which means that a case can go either way when it is heard.
Anyway, the upshot of all this is after having paid through the ringpiece for the past few years for advice that is (at best) dubious I've finally bitten the bullet and enrolled for an LLB. In my recent experience it is impossible to develop software without a paralegal background if only to preclude spending six months in court/chambers!
Learn about Linux
Download Linux
Get Linux help
Been there done that
Posted by: Hyperbunny on October 05, 2004 03:45 PMI've been writing software, both open source and proprietary, for over 20 years however, it's only in the last four years that I've been obliged to call in the legal brigade on a regular (all too regular) basis.
I live and work in South Africa. I think the best way to sum up the situation on litigation here is: "Avoid it at all costs!" The costs of legal representation is prohibitive and courts rarely (if ever) consider consequential losses resulting from pre-emptive or tactical litigation. I can only surmise that Dan Ravicher hasn't been to SA if he believes that: "...many lawyers are willing to consider representation of free software clients either pro-bono or on contingency...". The attorneys and advocates I have been dealing with over the past few years wouldn't represent their grandmothers on a pro-bono basis and, with the costs being generally awarded on the 'party and party' scale (about 40 - 50% of the real cost) it's a brave man who takes on a case here against a big opponent (such as the evil MS)
Another problem in smaller countries such as ours is that there are few attorneys who have the appropriate experience to deal with IP and copyright issues. Also, many of our statutory enactments on such matters are untried and legal opinion largely derives from US & UK precedents rather than local precedent which means that a case can go either way when it is heard.
Anyway, the upshot of all this is after having paid through the ringpiece for the past few years for advice that is (at best) dubious I've finally bitten the bullet and enrolled for an LLB. In my recent experience it is impossible to develop software without a paralegal background if only to preclude spending six months in court/chambers!
#