BE DOPE NEWS (BDN) Developers of BeOS software that hacks the CueCat, a free barcode scanner from company DigitalConvergence, are outraged that they are being largely ignored by the mainstream press, geek press and CueCat lawyers, while Linux CueCat hackers have received non-stop coverage on Slashdot.org and, in many cases, vague threatening letters from lawyers representing CueCat.

"These problems are closely linked since it is in part the lack of clueless legal action that affects our ability to get media coverage," said BeOS developer Dan Moore.

Moore, safe from all US lawsuits in his Christmas Island residence, claims to have developed CueBe one night in a fit of drunken serendipity.

"Damn, I just read yet another story where the Digital Convergence CTO himself 'chuckles' at the Linux hackers," complained Moore. "I demand equal chuckles".

Most infuriating to the BeOS developers is the fact that the CueCat lawyers seem to be threatening other CueCat hack websites with a form letter of some sort.

"We can't even get a form letter sent to us," lamented Mark Topham, author of BeCode. "That's like saying we're not good enough to receive junk mail. What does that say about their level of respect for BeOS?"

Ted Stodgell, author of BeClueCat (a perl script that works with UPC, ISBN and even Michigan driver licenses), writes, "Digital Convergence knows who I am. I called them myself last week and tried find out what their stance was on all this mess. They didn't really tell me anything new, but neither did they tell me to stop. In another attempt to get some kind of public response from them, I posted the 'open letter' but they haven't replied yet."

"Digital Convergence really pisses me off," added Stodgell. "Instead of spending time opressing me, they're off registering domains like 'cuecatatemyballs.com' and so on."

When contacted for a comment, a Digital Convergence representative said "BeOS who? What are you talking about?"

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