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Issue #499 : : December 12, 2006 |
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C o n t e n t s
Autodesk
vs. Open Design Alliance
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Autodesk vs. Open Design Alliance I'm receiving letters about Autodesk's "TrustedDWG" lawsuit against the Open Design Alliance, some of which I printed last week; more this week. As well, Alibre ceo Greg Milliken and I exchanged emails on the subject, which you can read below. (Mr Milliken formerly held positions in marketing, sales, and engineering at Autodesk and Intergraph.)
Milliken and Grabowski Greg Milliken: So tell me, do you find Autodesk's TrustedDWG ploy and resulting lawsuit as appalling and anti-customer as I do? The judge may well be limited by legal technicalities, but is there anyone who really believes Autodesk's claim that they are being damaged by this, or that this silly dialog box alert is really intended to help their customers? Wouldn't it be something if this goes to a jury trial, and in the process Autodesk has to reveal that indeed files created by their own software cause many more problems for their customers than those generated by ODA libraries, exposing this for the cynical and misguided maneuvering it is. I am amazed that Autodesk doesn't see the value of just respecting -- and 'trusting' -- their customers by focusing on helping them to be more productive by encouraging and assisting them in receiving data from their colleagues and partners that are using other vendors' software. The classic ending would be for them to technically win, but
the jury wisely see this for what it is and award them $1 in damages
-- no wait, $3 since they want "treble" damages. Ralph Grabowski: My feeling is that Autodesk sees this legal move as pro-customer, "protecting" their customers.
Milliken: How about you, do you see it as pro-customer? Grabowski: What's pro-customer depends on the customer. Microsoft could do the same thing: stick in a "TrustedDOC" flag that warns if the .doc file was created by a non-Microsoft product. If I were a Word user, I might see this as pro-customer, because then I would know the document might not be rendered correctly. This, of course, assumes that Microsoft products create flawless .doc files. [A few days after I wrote this, The Inquirer reported, "Microsoft Office has 'extremely critical' hole: Don't mess with untrusted Word docs."] But I don't use Word; I use Atlantis from Rising Sun Solutions. In that case, I'd see the TrustedDOC flag as anti-customer. In the Autodesk case, we have two issues: 1. Can ODA use the TrustedDWG name or technology? No. In court, the ODA is arguing point 2, while Autodesk is arguing point 1. The judge will rule on point 1.
Milliken: Not having TrustedDWG in the ODA libraries is a non-issue to me. Many, many Autodesk customers work with others who use non-Autodesk software and they work very effectively every day, in spite of Autodesk's efforts to make this more difficult by scrambling file formats and putting in things, like TrustedDWG. It is a fact that a vast majority of files written by ODA [Open Design Alliance] libraries work just fine. A very small minority cause problems. Just consider the number of companies using them as proof of that. This is probably also the case with files generated by Autodesk's own products. If you believe the previous statements, at the end of the day having Autodesk warn every user that every non-Autodesk file could cause a problem ironically only hurts THEIR customers, not the partners using non-Autodesk software. Unless one believes that suddenly all these Autodesk customers will refuse to work with these files (even though virtually all of them work just fine) and demand their partners switch their software to Autodesk products, which will then somehow translate into more sales for Autodesk. Could someone have truly been so deluded to have believed that? Otherwise, what is the practical benefit to the customer? I really believe Autodesk management has lost their compass. At the end of the day, the lawsuit actually will be good for
everyone as it sheds light on what this is really all about. Regardless
of the outcome of the case, I believe Autodesk has already lost
in the court of public opinion. Grabowski: I think that [Autodesk ceo] Carl Bass has wanted a way to tell ODA to back off, and finally found it by trade marking TrustedDWG (since DWG couldn't be registered as a trademark).
Milliken: Maybe so. Seems like a poor call to me. I can't
wait to write a nice juicy blog on it. [Some of this conversation found its way into Mr Milliken's Weblog at www.gregmilliken.com.]
Readers Respond News of the law suit encouraged those who have been negatively affected by Autodesk's TrustedDWG to speak up:
"I think most have lost the point on this issue, including the judge in his initial ruling. They have compared TrustedDWG to Rolex watches and Coke; however the point is, 'Who creates the drawing in the first place?' "Unlike the Rolex scenario used by the Autodesk legal team, the drawing is something that I create -- not AutoCAD. Autodesk provided the vehicle to create and store it, but I do the work to making the drawing. Hence it is mine, and I should have the true trademark on it. "The fact is, however, that Autodesk illegally adds their
trademark to my drawings without my consent. This prevents its use
in certain scenarios, which is in fact illegal! If this is
allowed to proceed, we will have a multitude of pop-up messages
on every other file that we load -- thus costing industry billions
of dollars." The editor replies: "Good points. In the area of manual drafting, Staedler-Mars makes much of the drafting equipment we (used to) use: pens, plastic templates, T-squares, and more. Staedler-Mars doesn't own the drawings I drew. Nor do they insist on attaching stickers to my mylars warning against editing the drawings with Koh-I-Noor electric erasers and Rapidograph pens." - - - "All our drawing files are created using Autodesk-licensed software. All our drawing templates are created using Autodesk-licensed software. All our title blocks are created using Autodesk-licensed software. "However, we use a third-party document management software to write drawing information directly into the title blocks' attributes. Which means all 38,982 drawings on our server are now non-Autodesk drawings. Every time we send drawing files to customers and suppliers, they are warned 'Use of this file with AutoCAD software may result in stability issues.' "Thanks for the competitive disadvantage, Autodesk. Maybe you think this will make us want to buy an Autodesk document management system? Ha ha ha ha ha ha. "We are more likely to buy a non-Autodesk drawing package.
There must be some pretty good ones out there if Autodesk feels
this threatened by them." The editor replies: "The trusted campaign began nearly ten years ago when Autodesk felt threatened by Visio's launch of IntelliCAD. Stickers claiming '100% Pure DWG' began appearing on boxes of AutoCAD LT."
Earlier in the year, I split off the AutoLISP and Diesel portions of my 'Tailoring AutoCAD 2007' ebook, because it was getting too big. I've now recombined those sections with two brand-new chapters on DCL (dialog control language) for creating dialog boxes with AutoLISP to create... ...my newest ebook: "Tailoring AutoLISP - DCL - Diesel" is suitable for users of AutoCAD Release 13 - 2007. It's 166 pages long, and is priced at US$24.90. More details about it at www.upfrontezine.com/tadd If you'd like to order it through www.paypal.com , use the account of grabowski@telus.net . Reference item #TADD. Thanks for your support!
A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that I found interesting: - - - Upgrade to madCAM for free _and_ keep your current license of CAM software. That's the mad marketing move from reseller Off Broadway. madCAM is short for "mould and die" and is an add-on to Rhino. [Here I'd normally make a wisecrack comment about how ominous "mould and die" sounds, but Robert Schutz is a friend from way back, so I won't.] Details are here: www.ob.com/catalog/no-charge-madcam-competitive-upgrade-p-200.html Peer Software's new PeerSync for CAD Collaboration software specializes in the backup and synchronization of very large CAD-generated files. For instance, ByteReplicator transfers just changed data instead of the entire file, while multi-threading allows multiple file transfers at the same time. Free trial version from peersoftware.com/solutions/packages/collaboration_cad_solutions.asp Dassault Systemes releases ABAQUS for CATIA V5 v2.4 FEA (finite element analysis) software. New features: dynamic analysis, self-contact, submodeling, and cyclic symmetry. http://www.simulia.com [Simmula is Dassault's umbrella brand for all its simulation software.] CoCreate Software announces 2007 CoCreate OneSpace Suite -- their 3D CAD and PLM combo for product development. Due to ship in early 1007, it will have new 3D capabilities, new cabling module, real-time texture map rendering, part comparisons, and clash analysis. www.cocreate.com/rd/2007_highlights Informative Graphics releases Net-It Central 7.0 for automatic indexing and document publishing. Version 7 is 2x faster. www.net-it.com Adobe makes available release 8 of its free Reader in multiple OS versions: Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS X, Windows 9x/Me, Linux, and Windows 2000. Also, Reader LE works with Palm OS, Pocket PC, and Symbian OS. Download free from www.adobe.com/products/reader/ NavisWorks and JetStream join up to ship JetStream v5.2 for interactive 3D viewing, with new support for Intergraph's PDS .dri files, 3DSMax 8, ArchiCAD 10, the latest versions of SolidWorks, Solid Edge, and Revit files. Oh, it also now does batch conversion of MicroStation files. www.navisworks.com/product_levels.php Delcam re-arranges its software into new groupings: PowerMILL for conventional machine tools; PowerMILL Pro for high-speed machining; PowerMILL 3+2 for positional five-axis machines; and PowerMILL 5-axis for continuous five-axis operations. www.powermill.com Cyco releases AutoManager View 2007 for EDM [engineering data management]. They don't send me press releases, so all I'll tell you is that they have a 30-day trial available: http://www.cyco.com/amview The IntelliCAD Technology Consortium notes that the beta version of its IntelliCAD 6.3 uses the TrustedDWG-free DWGdirect 2.1.1 libraries from the Open Design Alliance. The setup program supports Vista. www.intellicad.org [I can see the marketing campaign gearing up: "Reads DWG Better than Ever! Now Free of TrustedDWG! No More Nasty Popups!"] - - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski <worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/ > Weblog:
Seminars & Conferences PLM World for UGS users is April 23-27 in Long Beach CA USA. www.plmworld.com PLM Europe for UGS users is Oct. 15-17 in Frankfurt, Germany. www.plm-europe.org Magazine/eZine/Weblog Updates Owen Wengerd, president of manusoft, pontificates on his "Outside The Box: Random Thoughts About AutoCAD, ObjectARX, and the Meaning of Life" blog at otb.manusoft.com Franco Folini, president of Novedge, launches his "Novedge World of Graphics and Design" blog at blog.novedge.com Pro-Talk starts up a German language site at www.Techniktalk.de -- equivalent of their English Engineeringtalk and Manufacturingtalk sites. Editor is Walter Brumann.
People/Companies on the Move Catalog Data Solutions appoints James Browning as national sales manager. Mr Browning is the former Coca-Cola director of sales in the midwest USA. Seemage appoints Rikei Group as master distributor for Japan, China, and Taiwan. VI Group, the parent company of Vero International Software, acquires Camtek Ltd of the UK, developer PEPS software for CAM.
WorthWhile Web http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=macintosh&articleId=9005730&taxonomyId=123&intsrc=kc_feat
Notable Quotable ""No matter how you put it, someone will always come
back and refute you. That's the nature of statistics. And fanboys."
Copyright 2006 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide Article reprint fee US$250.00.
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