Software Freedom Law Center to represent the Wine project

For Immediate Release


Distinguished Open Source Project Will Receive Legal Counsel Regarding
Software Licenses, Patents and Copyrights

NEW YORK and STUTTGART, Germany   May 11, 2005   The Wine Project, a
prominent open source project that provides a complete implementation of
Windows(TM) for Linux and Unix systems, today announced it has engaged the
Software Freedom Law Center to provide legal counsel to its project
participants.

"The Software Freedom Law Center embodies the highest degree of expertise on
Free and Open Source Software legal issues," said Alexandre Julliard,
maintainer of The Wine Project. "We know that by engaging the Law Center,
even more developers and volunteers will take advantage of the benefits of
The Wine Project."

The Wine Project has been a popular and important open source project since
1993. Boasting a development community of more than 600 programmers who have
contributed 1.2 million lines of code to the project, Wine provides
interoperability for users who want to run Windows applications on open
source and free software operating systems. 

"As open source projects are increasingly threatened by excessive litigation,
technological successes must be partnered with solid legal principles," said
Eben Moglen, chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center. "The Wine Project
is a particularly important example. By representing the Wine Project, the
Software Freedom Law Center will enable further adoption of the project's
benefits and increase confidence among users."

The commercial value of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) today is
increasing at an exponential rate and changing the playing field for the
software industry. To be viable, productive and sustainable, open source
projects, such as The Wine Project, need expert legal representation

About The Wine Project
Started in 1993, The Wine Project provides a complete implementation of the
Windows API for Unix and X11 based systems. The Wine Project allows millions
of people around the world to deploy Windows programs on alternate operating
system platforms, without license or performance encumbrances. The Wine
Project seeks to allow systems such as Linux to become a completely Windows
compatible operating environment and to provide a mechanism for software
developers to readily move their software from Windows to alternate
platforms. The Wine web page, www.winehq.org, has more information on The
Wine Project.
 
About The Software Freedom Law Center
The Software Freedom Law Center   chaired by Eben Moglen, one of the world's
leading experts on copyright law as applied to software   provides legal
representation and other law-related services to protect and advance FOSS.
The Law Center is dedicated to assisting non-profit open source developers
and projects that do not otherwise have access to necessary legal services.
For criteria on eligibility and to apply for assistance, please contact the
Law Center directly or visit it on the Web at www.softwarefreedom.org.
   
  
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