[ Thanks to Doug Bostrom for
this link. ]
“On Aug. 30 several folks who have written Linux drivers and
apps relating to the free barcode scanner mentioned here a few days
ago were sent cease and desist orders demanding that they stop
distributing the code. [updated by timothy 20:00 GMT: Please
note that what flyingbuttmonkeys received is not officially a
“cease and desist” letter; instead, it merely says that the longer
the drivers are available, the “longer damages will accrue,” citing
“intellectual property rights owned by Digital Convergence.”] The
barcode scanner is called a CueCat (with some lame marketroid
colons that I’m not using because it irritates me when people name
things like that). The code included a device driver written by
Pierre-Philippe Coupard and a reader/decrypter written by Michael
Rothwell. The code is afaik unavailable, but hopefully folks who
downloaded it will have mirrors soon. I asked Michael to describe
to me what his decoder did, and a few other questions.”
“Update: 09/01 02:49 PM by CT: Freshmeat has a perl script
CueCat Decoder that will also decode the CueCat’s output.”
“Update: 09/01 02:57 PM by CT: Russel Nelson pointed out that
Lineo’s Driver has also been taken down following a cease and
desist from Digital Convergence (CueCat’s parent).”