Submission + - War Between Thompson Reuters and Zotero Escalates
vincanis writes: "Looks like the legal battle between Thompson Reuters (makers of EndNote) and George Mason University (Hosts and developers of the Zotero reference manager project at http://www.zotero.org/ ) is heating up. Last year, Thompson Reuters initiated a lawsuit over Zotero's beta feature allowing interpretation and use of EndNote citation styles, often provided by journals to assist authors in formatting their submissions.
The latest escalation? I'll let this email I just received do the talking for me.
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Dear Zotero Development Community Members,
First off, please allow me to apologize for clogging your inbox with this unsolicited message, but I hope you'll understand that the severity of the situation requires me to contact you. In its ongoing litigation with George Mason University, Thomson Reuters has demanded that the university produce contact information (name, email, and username) associated with all two hundred eighty-six Zotero SVN/Trac accounts.
We can think of no use Thomson Reuters's counsel would have for this information other than to intimidate and harass you, and we made every effort to avoid turning over this information until compelled. We have requested that the contact information be placed under protective order, which in principle means that only the lawyers involved should have access to the information. Nonetheless, we feel it is our obligation to notify you that we are being forced to release this data. Please note that you are in no way required or requested to keep this disclosure confidential. If you are contacted by Thomson Reuters or their attorneys in connection with this lawsuit, please do let us know.
We deeply apologize for this encroachment on your privacy, and we sincerely hope that it does not dissuade you from remaining active members of the Zotero development community.
Best regards,
Sean Takats
Zotero Co-Director
Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
sean@takats.org | http://chnm.gmu.edu/ | 703 993 9271"
The latest escalation? I'll let this email I just received do the talking for me.
---------------------------------------------
Dear Zotero Development Community Members,
First off, please allow me to apologize for clogging your inbox with this unsolicited message, but I hope you'll understand that the severity of the situation requires me to contact you. In its ongoing litigation with George Mason University, Thomson Reuters has demanded that the university produce contact information (name, email, and username) associated with all two hundred eighty-six Zotero SVN/Trac accounts.
We can think of no use Thomson Reuters's counsel would have for this information other than to intimidate and harass you, and we made every effort to avoid turning over this information until compelled. We have requested that the contact information be placed under protective order, which in principle means that only the lawyers involved should have access to the information. Nonetheless, we feel it is our obligation to notify you that we are being forced to release this data. Please note that you are in no way required or requested to keep this disclosure confidential. If you are contacted by Thomson Reuters or their attorneys in connection with this lawsuit, please do let us know.
We deeply apologize for this encroachment on your privacy, and we sincerely hope that it does not dissuade you from remaining active members of the Zotero development community.
Best regards,
Sean Takats
Zotero Co-Director
Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
sean@takats.org | http://chnm.gmu.edu/ | 703 993 9271"
