Women in Technology

Stare decisis, "stand by
that which is decided", prevails in the real legal
world.

Indeed it does. Mr. Wallace's case against the Free Software Foundation was dismissed in March, 2006 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Groklaw has the full story at http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060320201540127.

The federal courts will *never* enforce these canonical
form licenses whose primary purpose conflicts with
Congress' express wishes concerning public policy.

From Judge Tinder's opinion: "As alleged, the GPL in no way forecloses other operating systems from entering the market. Instead, it merely acts as a means by which certain software may be copied, modified and redistributed without violating the software’s copyright protection. As such, the GPL encourages, rather than discourages, free competition and the distribution of computer operating systems, the benefits of which directly pass to consumers. These benefits include lower prices, better access and more innovation."