The indefatigable SCO VP Gregory Blepp will be the guest lecturer at a university in Germany on June 17, according to a Groklaw reader, JeR, who got the email invitation. Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat Jena has invited Mr. Blepp to talk about the SCO case and on the theme, "How Much Is Intellectual Property Still Worth?" ab 16.00 Uhr. That's 4 PM to us Americans. This will be followed by spirited discussion session, they promise. He will be pontificating on the subject of how the Open Source movement affects society.
JeR's quick translation of the blurb: "Music sharing on the Internet or illegally copied computer programs: Almost every German has criminalized himself at one point. Copyright infringements are considered petty crimes. Meanwhile, however, the misuse of intellectual property has become a billion dollar business. For instance, the American SCO-Group which operates worldwide is currently litigating the IBM computer company both for violating licenses and for misuse of code. This precedent involves 5 billion US dollars. The popularity of the case alone leads us to this general question: How much is the protection of intellectual property still worth? As scientists this question is of special interest to us!" I guess Blepp didn't get the BayStar memo. Despite the one-sided, inaccurate and insulting description, I hope at least some of Groklaw's readers will politely attend and give us a thorough report.
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