The Free Software Foundation Presents “SCO Without Fear”

Conversations with Professor Eben Moglen

The Free Software Foundation [ http://www.fsf.org/ ] (FSF) invites you to a lunch series, "SCO Without Fear", with Professor Eben Moglen [ http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/ ], Board Member and General Counsel to FSF. During the series, Prof. Moglen will discuss the SCO Group vs IBM lawsuit and the implications for the development and use of Free Software of both this lawsuit and SCO's attacks on the GNU General Public License [ http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl.html ] (GNU GPL). The two day lunch series, on January 20 and 21, will be at Columbia University in New York.

On January 20, Professor Moglen will describe the legal history of the free software movement from its beginnings in the mind of Richard Stallman to its current industry-transforming prominence. His talk will show how the GNU GPL and other legal measures invented by FSF proved to be strong enough to bring IBM, HP and other giants of the IT industry to a full appreciation of free software's technical and commercial value. He will then outline the threat SCO's lawsuit against IBM poses to the legal infrastructure of free software.

On January 21, we will continue the conversation with Professor Moglen. He will lay out the strategy of the free software community, which he has been central in developing, to defeat SCO's phantom case. Also, he will talk about why he thinks users of free software have nothing to fear from SCO, their team of lawyers and their $60 million war chest. All the SCO lawyers and all of SCO's money will not be able to blow down the house of GNU/Linux built on the foundation of the GNU GPL. Professor Moglen will in addition discuss the Foundation's plans to strengthen the legal infrastructure in the aftermath of the inevitable collapse of SCO's lawsuit, including some discussion of the future of the GPL.

The fee for the two day series is $250 or $150 for one day. Lunch is included. People who have registered for the Free Software Licensing and the GNU GPL Seminars [ http://www.fsf.org/licenses/NYC_Seminars_Jan2004.html ] at Columbia Law School on January 20 and 21, do not have to pay for the lunch series for the day(s) they are attending the seminar(s). The cost of the lunch series is included in the seminar registration. FSF Associate Members [ http://member.fsf.org/ ] and Corporate Patrons [ http://patron.fsf.org/ ] receive a 20% discount.

Eben Moglen is Professor of Law and Legal History at the Columbia Law School, where he has taught since 1987. He clerked for Judge Edward Weinfeld of the United State District Court for the Southern District of New York and for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. Before and during law school he was a designer and implementer of advanced computer programming languages at IBM's Santa Teresa Laboratory and Thomas J. Watson Research Center. His principal areas of interest are Anglo American legal history, constitutional law, computers and free expression, and intellectual property. Since 1993, he has served as pro bono General Counsel for the Foundation and has served on its board since July 2000.

The Free Software Foundation founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software --- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants --- and free documentation for free software. FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software.

To RSVP or for more information, please contact John at johns@fsf.org or by phone at +1-617-542-5942 ext. 12 or Ravi at ravi@fsf.org or by phone at +1-617-620-9640