I would respectfully disagree. Crowd-funding to pay for various legal fees has been done many times across the world for other people in trouble of one kind or another with those in power, so why not this one? You might even be able to interest organizations like the ACLU or its European equivalents against the "tech power" companies for not respecting a probated will. Granted, this cause has a much smaller "tech savvy" audience to start with, but not an audience without resources.
I for one would contribute to that cause, multiple times if necessary. Dave Cole has also indicated his willingness to contribute, and Dave has many friends 😊 . The hard part of such efforts is the glacial pace of court cases. You can lose contributor interest because it just takes so bloody long to get anything done. A savvy attorney would also publicize (or get one of those TV "on your side" teams to publicize) the injustice of large tech firms not respecting a widow's rights which could greatly expand the available contributor base, and which could also lead to a much speedier resolution from large firms not wanting those "optics" on their practices. All that of course assumes the widow's willingness to be a public face of the issue for a period of time. That's not everyone's idea of a good time, especially with the level of trolls out there. Peter -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Michael Knigge Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2022 3:47 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: AW: SPF/SE is available for free Some words from Tim's wife bonnie: I don't have any install files...nothing on the product. I only got involved with filling orders but I can no longer access any of Tim's files. I don't have his passwords and none of the companies, AOL, Google, Microsoft, etc. would give me access even though it was in his Will that I have access. Our attorney would have taken up the case but it was going to cost more than the family wanted to spend. Apparently with these companies you have to set up Beneficiary info in your profile. Wills mean nothing. So... I don't think that we can get some many people for a crow-founding that we collect enough money to pay the attorney.... Sadly.... Bye, Michael Rühmkorffstraße 5 30163 Hannover Telefon: +49 511 330 998 23 Fax: +49 511 330 998 65 michael.kni...@set.de https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://set.de__;!!Ebr-cpPeAnfNniQ8HSAI-g_K5b7VKg!KD2OmXowcpvsY1se1I_C0xqe8DUcCT1CJqqC1nU3DSBLwh2IPyfN4FFFqaLECB7DSkJdgu9nVQxqjGLCbNmRHjI_EjXg8sw$ Hinweise zum Datenschutz: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://set.de/datenschutz__;!!Ebr-cpPeAnfNniQ8HSAI-g_K5b7VKg!KD2OmXowcpvsY1se1I_C0xqe8DUcCT1CJqqC1nU3DSBLwh2IPyfN4FFFqaLECB7DSkJdgu9nVQxqjGLCbNmRHjI_5WFCPAg$ Handelsregister: Amtsgericht Hannover HRB 52778 Geschäftsführer: Dr.-Ing. Tobias Baum, Dr.-Ing. Arthur Brack -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> Im Auftrag von Farley, Peter Gesendet: Freitag, 4. November 2022 20:12 An: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Betreff: Re: SPF/SE is available for free I agree with Jay that it still may be possible to recover the source IF the files still exist. I know it probably is possible to set up PW protected or encrypted files to "self-destruct" or somehow lock permanently (I assume any agency or company who are serious about secrecy all have access to some capability like that), but is such a seriously advanced capability really available to "ordinary" folk like the SPF developer? Even assuming the answer to that question is "yes", it would be worth asking if a certified "white hat" hacker or company had the capability to unlock such files anyway. Obviously it depends entirely on what the "locking" mechanism really was and how permanent the "self-destruct" status is, but I tend to think that someone with the necessary credentials could possibly resolve this unfortunate situation. Money would be the first issue of course since no one who does such work normally does it gratis, but among those who are real fans of the software I am sure some way could be found to fund such an effort, via crowd site or more private means. Any such effort would require his widow's cooperation and official written approval of course, but it sounds to me like that would not be an issue. Another question to ask is if any version of the source was escrowed with a law firm or other "rights protecting" organization in order to make a sale to a large company? Many software developers and companies have had to do that to protect the rights of large user organizations. Such a situation might provide (with cooperation from the beneficiary(ies) of the escrow) access to some version of the original code, though getting it released in the open might take lawyers and/or court actions. Just a couple of thoughts for consideration. Peter -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Michael Knigge Sent: Tuesday, November 1, 2022 5:59 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: AW: SPF/SE is available for free Jay, I've got the following information..... <quote> Hello Michael. I contacted his wife and she told me that Tim’s SPF s/w is “gone forever”. Apparently he PW protected it and when she tried to break the PW, it self destructed. In any case, according to her, there is no hope for any data recovery. Very disappointing. </quote> Sorry.... Michael Mit freundlichen Grüßen Michael Knigge Software Engineer <Snipped> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> Im Auftrag von Jay Maynard Gesendet: Dienstag, 1. November 2022 20:23 An: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Betreff: Re: SPF/SE is available for free Hm. According to the README on the Github site, the source code was stored encrypted...are the encrypted files still in existence? Perhaps they can be obtained and decrypted. It's a long shot, to be sure, but definitely worth a try. On Tue, Nov 1, 2022 at 9:22 AM Michael Knigge <michael.kni...@set.de> wrote: > FYI: > > I guess some of you guys use SPF/SE (SPF SourceEdit) from Command > Technology. The editor was developed by Tim Tetivia, who unfortunately > died in 2022 as a result of a corona infection. With some research and > help from other SPF users (namely Peter aka Verizon), it was possible > to contact Tim's wife Bonnie. She gave us permission to distribute the > editor for free (sadly the source code is “lost” forever). <Snipped> -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. 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