Bruce Perens: Inside Open Source’s Historic Victory

“What probably made Jacobsen most angry was when Katzer’s lawyer
sent a Freedom of Information Act request to Jacobsen’s employer,
the U.S. Department of Energy and its Lawrence Berkeley Labs,
accusing them of sponsoring the model train project, and asking for
copies of all of Jacobsen’s email and Skype communications, and a
long list of other information which one could conclude was meant
to embarrass Jacobsen in front of his employer.

“The Department of Energy eventually denied the FOIA, but only
after it had caused Jacobsen a lot of trouble. Because it was so
unlikely that the laboratory would disclose what was obviously
private correspondence, the only reason I can see for this FOIA
would have been to harass Jacobsen through his employer and to put
his job at risk.

“At that point, Bob Jacobsen had enough. Rather than wait to be
sued, he decided to sue Katzer first. But of course little folks
like an Open Source developer working on a scientist’s salary can’t
afford to spend much time in court. Katzer’s company expected to
win any case simply because Jacobsen would not be able to afford to
defend himself. Fortunately, Jacobsen was able to find help. Not
through the Software Freedom Law Center, which was just being
founded in 2005, but through attorney Victoria Hall, who was active
in EFF.”

Complete Story