LEAGUE FOR PROGRAMMING FREEDOM
545 Tech Square
Cambridge, MA 02139

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Wes Thomas, (516) 266-1652
or Richard Stallman, (617) 253-8830



         Programmers and users picket Lotus, protesting
               user-interface copyright litigation



CAMBRIDGE, MA, May 24, 1989 -- Chanting anti-litigation slogans,
a group of almost 200 computer-science professors and students,
software developers, and users, under the League for Programming
Freedom banner, picketed Lotus Development Corporation
headquarters here today.

The demonstration was called to protest lawsuits by Lotus, Apple,
and Ashton Tate, which "threaten to kill the growth of the
software industry by trying to create a new kind of legal
monopoly: copyright on the 'look and feel' of user interfaces,"
said protest organizer Richard Stallman, a legendary computer
hacker and developer of EMACS, a widely used and imitated
programming editor.

Marching from MIT to Lotus, the group chanted, "Put your lawyers
in their place; no one owns the interface;" "Hey, hey, ho, ho,
software tyranny has got to go;" and "1-2-3-4, toss the lawyers
out the door; 5-6-7-8, innovate don't litigate; 9-A-B-C, 1-2-3 is
not for me; D-E-F-O, look and feel have got to go"--the first
hexadecimal protest chant--and carried protest signs: "Don't make
me wear your suit!" (showing a person in a straightjacket), "Drop
the suit, we've got you surrounded," "Creative companies don't
need to sue," and "Oh no! Look and feel copyright!" accompanied
by a reproduction of the painting, "The Scream," by Muench).

The group also distributed leaflets to Lotus employees and
others, urging them to boycott products from Lotus, Apple, and
Ashton Tate and refuse to work for these companies.

The demonstration was backed by three prominent MIT computer
scientists: AI Lab founder Marvin Minsky, AI Lab head Patrick
Winston, and professor of electrical engineering Gerald J. 
Sussman; Stallman, and Guy Steele, author of the book "Common
Lisp," the standard for the Lisp language, and co-author of "C, A
Reference Manual."  Bryan Kocher, President of the Association
for Computing Machinery (ACM), a professional organization of
computer scientists and programmers, marched with the protesters.

The protests were directed against Lotus, which has sued
Paperback Software and Mosiac; Apple Computer, which has sued
Microsoft and Hewlett Packard; and Ashton Tate, which has sued
Fox Software and is extending its claims to a computer
programming language, Dbase.  According to Stallman, "If these
companies are permitted to make law through the courts, the
precedent will hobble the software industry.  Software will
become more expensive.  Users will be `locked in' to proprietary
interfaces for which there is no real competition, or be
encumbered with incompatible new interfaces."

Stallman said the League for Programming Freedom is developing a
national organization and is looking for volunteer officers.  It
also plans future protests and lobbying efforts.  For further
information, write: Richard Stallman, League for Programming
Freedom, 545 Tech Sq, Cambridge, MA 02139.

                             - 1E -

Note to editors: Photos and position paper available upon
request.  Call or msg Wes Thomas, (516) 266-1652, MCI Mail: wes
thomas; The Well: wes; BIX: westhomas; CompuServe: 72737,1245.