Restored archive. The original History Commons is no longer online; this is a read-only edition of its timelines. Content is licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

November 15, 1985: Justice Department Makes Counterproposal for Settlement of PROMIS Dispute

1985-11-15

The Justice Department makes a counterproposal in the dispute with Inslaw over rights to an enhanced version of the PROMIS software. The principles of the settlement, set out by the Justice Management Division’s general counsel Janice A. Sposato in a letter to Inslaw lawyer Harvey Sherzer, are:
bullet The department will not pay Inslaw any additional money for the enhanced software obtained under a contract on implementation of PROMIS at US attorneys’ offices;
bullet Inslaw will recognize that the US government has the right to unrestricted use of the enhanced software obtained under the contract for any federal project, including projects implemented by independent contractors;
bullet The department will agree not to make or permit any disclosure or distribution of the software other than as described above, or as required by federal law.
Inslaw will not accept the counterproposal, and the dispute will continue. [US Congress, 9/10/1992]