An antitrust challenge to open-source software fails in the Seventh Circuit

Oregon's many adherents to the open-source movement can rest easy:  the antitrust laws are no threat to the distribution of software under the GNU General Public License (GPL).    At least that was the conclusion of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in an opinion issued today.  Authors who distribute software under the GPL authorize copying and the creation of derivative works, but prohibit charging for the copies and derivatives.  The license ensures that all open-source software, such as the Linux operating system, is disseminated free of charge. 
In Wallace v. IBM, plaintiff claimed that the GPL made it impossible for him to compete with Linux, either by offering a derivative work or by writing his own operating system, because no one would buy his product as long as Linux is free.   Plaintiff claimed predatory pricing by IBM and others.  Judge Frank Easterbrook, writing for the majority, concluded that the free distribution of software does not fit the test for unlawful predatory pricing under the Brooke Group case, that nothing in the law requires copyright owners to charge for their intellectual property, and that the widespread use of Linux does not threaten consumer welfare.  The court affirmed the judgment dismissing the complaint.