Re[2]: Corel Lawsuit (fwd)
Brian Ristuccia <brianr@osiris.978.org> wrote:
> Then imagine the potential shareholder lawsuits against Corel for not
> excercising due-diligence in preventing the losses incurred by the delayed
> release, wasted CD's and other materials, and civil suits by copyright
> holders because they failed to listen to the copyright holders when they
> complained about the incorrect license in the first place...
Absolutely right. This is the only language that's understood in boardrooms,
which, given the structure of publicly traded for-profit corporations (one
might argue) is only as it should be. Those in control of Corel have two
priorities, and they are intertwined: increasing shareholder value, and
increasing the value of their own compensation packages, which are (one can
safely guess) in significant measure made up of options to buy Corel stock.
Any notion that Corel is playing anything other than hardball is wishful
thinking. On October 19 CORL closed at $4.69; yesterday it stood at $14.13!
The stock has not seen this level since 1996! This 300% surge in share price
has been *precisely* coincident with Comdex and the debut of Corel Linux. (In
the same time frame RHAT has similarly gone from $77.50 to $213.50; it has
doubled its value in the last nine trading sessions alone!) With dollars like
this in contention it's clear that in said boardroom the attorneys will hold
sway, not even taking a second place behind the accountants!
My experience with these outfits is that *if* anyone is going to listen, it
*may* be the lawyers who oversee investor relations. They understand the
intimate connection between share price and public image. Contact information
for IR at Corel is at:
http://www.corel.com/investor/other411.htm
Email is: ir@corel.ca, where one David Hladkowicz holds forth.
The experience of the kde developers will prove useful in this context. Corel
has "promised" that it will - in so many words - do things differently when it
comes to implementing version 2.0 of kde. Corel claims it will mend its ways.
Would anyone wish to wager a few bucks on that claim?
My father, who knew a lot about both, never tired of warning me that: "Money
changes people." My fear is not that money will change Corel; they are already
all about money. My fear is that money will change Linux, and not to its
improvement. It's already started.
--
Bob Bernstein http://members.home.net/ruptured-duck
at bobbern@delphi.com
Esmond, R.I., USA Learning......OpenBSD 2.5!
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