PROVO — A self-described linguist and programmer has filed a lawsuit against Novell, the Eyring Research Institute and the founders of WordPerfect for a whopping $40 billion, claiming his software was pirated and used to create WordPerfect as well as some of Novell's first military missile programs.
Bruce Wydner of Eden, Weber County, and his brother, Roger Weidner, filed the suit last fall against Novell, Eyring Research and Bruce Bastian and Allen Ashton, formerly of WordPerfect.
Speaking to the Deseret News, Wydner claims a language translation software that he developed back in 1977 was inspired by passages within the Book of Mormon in which the Ancient Nephites were described as having the ability to decipher any human language through visual cues. In addition to alleging that his software was stolen, Wydner credits his software for ending the Cold War between the United States and Russia.
After working as a linguist at the Pentagon and translating messages for the Central Intelligence Agency, Wydner claims he was recruited by Brigham Young University to conduct research on what was to be known as his "Cost-Effective Machine Translation" software. Pointing to articles done in 1978 by the Deseret News and the Wall Street Journal, Wydner claims he was a part of a project to work on translation software.
While at the Eyring Institute, a language translation research group that had its start at Brigham Young University, Wydner said he faced ridicule for his methods by fellow researchers. "I just couldn't work there because people were making fun of me," Wydner said. He also claimed to have taught courses based on his system at BYU.
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said in checking with those associated with the Eyring Institute, which has not been a part of BYU for the last 13 years, Jenkins said there was no recollection of Wydner working there. A search of staff and associate instructor records also yielded no proof that Wydner taught courses at BYU from 1972 to 1973.
But, according to Wydner's suit, it was around 1978 that programmers at the Eyring Institute began using his program without his knowledge. Wydner alleges that several programmers, including WordPerfect founders Bastian and Ashton, used his code to write one of the first highly popular word processing softwares of its time. In addition, programmers also allegedly used the code to devise a missile guidance system for the U.S. Air Force, those programmers would later go on, Wydner claims, to form Novell Corp.
Wydner's brother, Roger Weidner, said he is an attorney in Oregon who is helping to file the suit. Weidner said he estimated that Novell had earned about 8 billion in profits annually. Based on that estimate, Weidner said he came up with the multibillion figure for damages.
"That's basically a guesstimate of what they earned over the past couple of years," Weidner said.
But in the face of such outrageous allegations, Wydner said he is simply out to claim credit and profits that he says are rightfully his. When asked why he waited well over two decades to file his suit, Wydner said he was unaware of the alleged scheme to steal his software until December 1999 when a former Eyring programmer came forward and told him the story.
Wydner is seeking damages totaling $40 billion, for claims of breach of contract, unjust enrichment and fraud.
Yet despite the hefty price tag on this suit, none of the defendants appear to be taking it too seriously. After nearly four months, neither Novell, nor the founders of WordPerfect have bothered to file a response to the suit.
"We have received a copy of the complaint and we believe that it's frivolous," said Novell spokesman Kevan Barney. Barney said Novell attorneys could find no direct claim in the suit against Novell and that Novell planned to seek the dismissal of the suit.
E-MAIL: gfattah@desnews.com