Legal aspects [was: anybody else see darl on teevee?]

[Kurt Wall]

In a 1.1K blaze of typing glory, Chong Yu Meng wrote:
> Leon A. Goldstein wrote:
> 
> >Is it just a coincidence that this worm comes just before SCO's 
> >deadline  to respond to a court order to present
> >its evidence?
> >
> Actually, I find the whole SCO case very, very unsettling. Maybe I'm 
> becoming paranoid as I approach middle age (which I will be in less than 
> 2 months from now). It seems to me that you can bring a lawsuit against 
> anybody for anything nowadays. You don't even have to tell them what 
> they did wrong or anything. A lot of people say that Singapore (where I 
> live) is a "police-state", but I don't see how the States is any 
> different if I can sue my customers/neighbours/etc., without showing 
> evidence of wrong-doing. Isn't that the same as detention without trial?
> 
> I don't mean to insult anyone, but if somebody can explain the process 
> in this lawsuit (and counter-suit by IBM) to me, that would really help!

Being sued in civil court is like being charged in criminal court.
That is, a lawsuit or an indictment is an accusation of wrongdoing;
presumably, one is still presumed innocent until proven guilty. That
said, a favorite tactic has become to file a lawsuit and then conduct
a public relations campaign in conjunction with the lawsuit. This is
known as trial-by-press-release -- a tactic SCO has executed very well.

Best,

Kurt
-- 
Misfortune, n.:
	The kind of fortune that never misses.
		-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"