I find this quite interesting. is he a lawyer? is he a gw micro fan boy? I welcome and will read the referenced material, but one thing that caught my eye is that freedom did ask Mike to change the name and gave him plenty of time to do it. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Altschul" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 11:57 PM Subject: [VICUG-L] FW: [leadership] Freedom Scientific verses Gw Micro -----Original Message----- From: Dr. Ronald E. Milliman [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 8:03 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [leadership] Freedom Scientific verses Gw Micro I don't know how many of you are interested in the competitive battle among the many producers and suppliers of the products and services that we purchase, but since we are a very small market, relatively speaking, and since there is a very limited number of firms competing for our business, the demise of just one of the major producer/suppliers, such as Freedom Scientific, GW Micro, or HumanWare, for instance, could radically upset the juxtaposition of the entire market balance, and substantially and very adversely effect the repertoire of products available to us from which to choose. With that backdrop, I must call to your attention that, once again, Freedom Scientific has resorted to their "sue first and ask questions later" mentality when they filed a law suit against GW Micro on July 15,2008, claiming that GW Micro has engaged in "Patent Infringement" with the release of GW Micro's latest version of its WindowEyes screen reading program. While I am not speaking from a point of inside knowledge, from what I can glean from all that I have read and studied concerning this matter, my conclusion is that there is no validity to Freedom Scientific's legal claims and representations, and thus, the sue is unjustified at best and frivolous at worse. If Freedom Scientific were to win this suit, which I believe is unlikely, but one never knows when it comes to trying to anticipate what a jury will decide, it has the potential of forcing GW Micro out of business, pushing it into bankruptcy. If you want to read more of the details, including the legal document filed by Freedom Scientific, go to the " Blind Access Journal" at this URL: http://blog.blindaccessjournal.com/ Not too long ago, Freedom Scientific sued Freedom Box, forcing it to change its company name and change any reference to the word Freedom in its products and associated materials. While Freedom Scientific was successful through an out of court settlement with Freedom Box, which is now known as Serotec, Freedom Scientific stirred up considerable bad publicity for itself in the legal process. Evidently, it was not enough bad publicity because they are back at its "sue now and ask questions later" business strategy. I urge all people who are blind or low-vision to communicate with Freedom Scientific protesting their highly questionable competitive business practices, and to go even further by backing up your protest by refraining from purchasing any more of its products and services. Ron Milliman Dr. Ronald E. Milliman, Professor of Marketing, Western Kentucky University **Chair, ACB Public Relations Committee **Chair, ACB Monthly Monetary Support Program (MMS) Committee -- Join the Monthly Monetary Support program (MMS) and help improve tomorrow today in ACB. For details, contact Dr. Ron Milliman, MMS Program Committee Chair, by e-mail: [log in to unmask] or by phone at 270-782-9325 and get started making tomorrow look brighter today in ACB! This message has come to you from the ACB Leadership List: a special List for use by the leadership of the American Council of the Blind. This communication is privileged and may contain confidential information intended only for the person(s) to whom it is addressed. Any unauthorized disclosure, copying, other distribution of this communication is strictly prohibited and may result in immediate removal from the List. If you have received this message in error, please notify ACB immediately by writing to [log in to unmask] No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.5/1570 - Release Date: 7/24/2008 6:59 AM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.5/1570 - Release Date: 7/24/2008 6:59 AM VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List. Archived on the World Wide Web at http://listserv.icors.org/archives/vicug-l.html Signoff: [log in to unmask] Subscribe: [log in to unmask] VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List. Archived on the World Wide Web at http://listserv.icors.org/archives/vicug-l.html Signoff: [log in to unmask] Subscribe: [log in to unmask]