Legal Issues of Opening Up Proprietary Standards?

mrjb asks: "The Alesis HD24 is a 24-track, hard disk audio recorder with a built-in 10 megabit FTP server. To improve on file transfer speed, Alesis offers an external Firewire drive with a program called FST/Connect which reads the disks under Windows. I've contacted Alesis about a Linux solution, but none is planned. Also, they are (understandably) not very eager to reveal the file system specs. After a few days of staring at hex codes, I now know enough about the FS to read HD24 IDE disks under Linux (no Firewire required). As I know I benefit from the efforts of the Samba and OpenOffice teams, I'd love to share this info. I'm not, however, the least bit interested in Alesis suing me (in fact, I might want to send them my CV at some point). What would your advice be in such a delicate situation of conflicting interests?"

Proof?

[guyfromindia]

BTW, the article doesnt have a link for some of us lazy folks...
Here is a link to the product (Alesis HD24)... [alesis.com]
Just curious... how can you prove that you didnt have any inside information on the specs and that you decoded it all by yourself?

Use someone's wireless network

[necro2607]

Easy, dude. Write up the specs, hop onto someone's open wireless network, and post the file online from there. ;)

solution

[gigel]

remove your name from the source code
zip the source code
rename it pamela anderson new video (2006)
share it on kazaa, dc++, bittorrent, etc, etc, etc

Re:Put a layer of indirection

[online-shopper]

Here's an idea, send the company the source and your CV. See what happens.

Re:Alesis loves lawsuits

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear the_arbiter, My client, Alesis inc, has suffered extreme damage to reputation through the remarks posted by yourself on slashdot.org We are seeking $3.2 million in punitive damages, See you in court, Susan N. E. Boddee, Attorney, Screwem, Kickem & Run

Re:Scary yes... but...

[Just Some Guy]

So in the end, from one legal dispute, three lawsuits emerge, and two of those suits were at best frivolous, taking advantage of the cost of a lawsuit as a tool to try to extract concessions.

Perhaps your friend and his friends should have turned that into a legal dispute, three lawsuits, and a hospitalization. Remember, never cost someone more than they'd have to pay to have you killed.