Z:gnu-www-ja-stallman-mec-india--15ece6-A few years ago, an engineer i/en

A few years ago, an engineer in the US named Paul Heckel was suing Apple. He got a couple of software patents in the late 80's for a software package, and then when he saw Hypercard he looked at it and said &ldquo; this is nothing like my program,&rdquo; and didn't think anymore of it. But then later on, his lawyer explained to him that if you read his patents carefully, Hypercard fell into the prohibited area. So he sued Apple, figuring this was an opportunity to get some money. Well, once when I gave a speech like this, he was in the audience, and he said &ldquo;oh no that's not true, I just wasn't aware of the scope of my protection.&rdquo; And I said &ldquo;yeah, that's what I said.&rdquo;