issue
#359
28 OCtober 2003
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a l k i n g a b o u t c a d
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issue
#359
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Contents Is It RaceCAD Design or Alibre Design? Autodesk
Sues LT-Extender And
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You know why email filters will never work? Because they are unable to distinguish between press releases from Autodesk's discrete division and offers to deliver pharmaceuticals to my door discretely. Is It RaceCAD Design or Alibre Design? In Russia, a CAD package called RaceCAD Design is offered free at http://racecad.narod.ru . (A US$29 WinAce product is required to uncompress the 17MB download file.) Now Alibre reports that "someone in Russia" stole the Alibre Design source code, and is distributing it as RaceCAD. As do other CAD vendors, Alibra outsources programming tasks to firms in lower-cost countries. Greg Milken of Alibre tells upFront.eZine, "We're pursuing legal action in the US and Russia, and are talking steps to shut it down. In general, the issue is with Russian developers and the software cracks that seem to be coming out of Russia these days." He hopes that legitimate Russian programmers will put pressure on the code-stealers, to keep Russia from getting a bad name. In a further telephone interview with Mr Milklen, I asked how his company knows the code is purloined. There are several clues:
- - - On the RaceCAD discussion group [translated from Russian], Kefir asks how RaceCAD could be distributed free, considering the expense of licensing support libraries (ST-Developer is mentioned). Reply: a commercial version is planned, cost not exceeding $200. Others complain of the lack of documentation. As of June, only a brief introductory chapter was available. Slaviation asks who is behind RaceCAD, a lone programmer or a company? "Reveal yourself!" Svalery demands, "Who you, developers?" The anonymous programmer reveals only that RaceCAD is written in Java and that it uses ACIS. - - - I asked RaceCAD to comment on Alibre's allegations, but received no response by deadline. Shades of SolidWorks! A couple of years ago, a disgruntled Indian programmer stole sourcecode from contractor Geometric Software, and then offered it for sale to competitors. An FBI sting operation caught the former debugger when he handed over CDs in a hotel room. (Details at http://www.upfrontezine.com/upf-307.htm ) This even is worse, howover, because RaceCAD is freely available; OTOH, the Internet made it easier for Alibre to become aware of the problem. As an industry watcher notes, "'Libre' means free in some languages. Maybe someone got mixed up, and thought it was freeware." Autodesk Sues LT-Extender Fresh from winning the law suit brought against it by Spatial, Autodesk sets its sights on one or more third-party developers who work with AutoCAD LT. The initial target is LT-Extender, a Berlin company that promises "to break through (nearly) all AutoCAD LT limitations -- activating and enabling all hidden features of AutoCAD LT, emulating none-existing features ... the user will get complete AutoCAD power while running AutoCAD LT!" When I asked for more details, Autodesk said its complaint is against companies who are "redistributing Autodesk proprietary files, copying AutoCAD files to their machines deploying AutoCAD LT, [and] modifying protected Autodesk code." The company would not comment specifically on its lawsuit against LT-Extender. History of LT Development AutoCAD LT has been popular outside of North America, because Autodesk sells its products at equivalent-to-US$ prices, making AutoCAD much more expensive in countries with poor exchange rates. During the initial beta of AutoCAD LT Release 1, Autodesk included the AutoLISP programming language. In the few days between the final beta and Release 1 shipping, Autodesk blocked access to AutoLISP. (Until LT 2004, the AutoLISP code was still there.) Dealers were concerned that LT with AutoLISP would be too powerful, hence reducing sales of the more profitable AutoCAD. Development of LT add-ons began in Europe after programmers realized that the software was wide open. How? LT runs under Windows, and so makes use of Microsoft-provided libraries. Clever programmers merely intercepted LT's calls to the external libraries, and then substituted their own code. In recent years, Autodesk has made LT less attractive. The price increased by 60%. Autodesk offers large discounts for upgrading from LT to full AutoCAD. And Autodesk has been making it more difficult for programmers to intercept calls. You can read some of the technical details at www.lt-extender.com/englisch/inhalte/LT2004/content.htm Tenlinks.com lists 16 add-on products for AutoCAD LT, not counting Autodesk's own Symbol Libraries and ObjectEnabler add-ons. The products allow LT to do architectural and electrical designs, 3D solids modeling, photorealistic rendering, and programming. www.tenlinks.com/CAD/USERS/autocad_lt/autocad_lt_addons.htm Lawsuit Details Last week, Autodesk's Munich-based lawyers launched a lawsuit against LT-Extender. The company is also "investigating similar reported unlawful and unauthorized practices by other companies, to protect and safeguard:
Full press release here: biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031017/sff012_1.html Developers Respond I asked Torsten Moses of LT-Extender about the lawsuit [translated from German]: "Naturally, we see things differently than does Autodesk. Their press releases contains a number of false and incorrect statements, as does their court filing. "Despite the suit, development work continues on LT-Extender:
"More information about the lawsuit will be posted at www.LT-Extender.de ." Drcauto is an Australian developer of LT extensions. General manager Gary D'Arcy tells me, "The use of the words 'unlawful and unauthorized practices' implies that if Autodesk does not authorize it, then it is unlawful -- which in our opinion is misleading. Under this circumstance, all developers who use the Autodesk product range would have to seek Autodesk's approval, which is clearly not the case." He says his company ensures its software does not violate any copyright laws. He argues that many countries have enacted laws allowing the development of interoperable software, specifically:
Last summer, software monopolist Microsoft lost a law suit in Australia after it attempted to close down a company that had extended the capabilities of the XBox games computer. In its response, Autodesk says other third-party developers should not be worried, "Rest assured that Autodesk appreciates and supports the numerous companies that provide additional value to our customers by lawfully building on and extending Autodesk's software products. Such third-party developers are vital to the industry, and we welcome them to do so using standard Windows APIs or Autodesk APIs." Bill Gates seems unaware of the technical needs of MCAD software,
stating, "Apart from Photoshop, I can't think of desktop applications
where you would need more than 4GB of physical memory, which is
what you have to have in order to benefit from [64-bit] technology."
The WorthWhile Web /www.tliquest.net/skyscraper/
Spin Doctor of the Moment Headlines juxtaposed by Google News Sci/Tech: "Science Journal Challenges Establishment" "Monkeys Taught Mind Control" Notable Quotable "Never mind the A.I., where's the I?" |
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