What's Wrong With Wordperfect?

Corel WordPerfect 8.0 is only 2.5 years old (it's © 1999 Corel Corporation). Since september 9, 2001, there is a problem with the document conversion to and from Word 6.0 and Word 7.0, due to the "billionnium problem", where the Unix time() call returns a number that is bigger than 999,999,999.
The following message, dated 2001-09-12  in the Corel newsgroup corel.wpoffice.wordperfect8-linux sums it up: 
I have been using WP8 on a Redhat system for several years and have
always been able to convert word 6,7 amd word 97 documents and edit
them. A few days ago I was suddenly unable to convert a document,
getting the message "Filtrix unable to convert this file".  A file
titled Filtrix.Demo appears in my home directory. It reads "Filtrix
Demo: No Password. Your translated file,
/tmp/WP5655.CVT, has been written in DEMO
form: some random letters have been changed.
If you like the way your translated file appears,
but prefer more conventional spelling in the text,
call Blueberry at 707-829-5443 to order your
password. Or fax your order to 707-829-5380.
We accept MC, Visa, AmEx, and corporate PO's,
and will issue your password immediately.

Filtrix is (c) 1990 - 1995 by Blueberry Software,
260 Petaluma Avenue, Sebastopol, CA 95472"
Also, I can no longer open word documents stored on my hard disk that I
was always able to open before. Additionally, I can no longer convert
documents that I generate in wordperfect to word documents ( get the
same message.)

I've tried reinstalling wordperfect but that hasn't  helped.
What's going on and how do I fix it?
Corel did not react, but there were replies (by E-mail) from Blueberry Software, that were posted in de newsgroup. Kevin Dwan from Blueberry said: 
Yes. We have been in touch with [this user] directly. We have discovered 
an issue related to the Unix (and Linux) billion-second issue, which has  
affected the licensing portion of our filters. We are testing a fix for the 
problem, and will be coordinating a response for users with Corel, with 
whom we are also in contact.
September 29, there is more news. Now Kevin says: 
Because of the technical details of the problem (and the fix), we have to have [Corel] take the lead in devising a solution, though we are supplying the analysis and patch required.
It took Corel until October 5 to send a reply that basically said "we are aware of the problem, we are working on a fix but there is no time-line for it".
The problem came to my attention by the end of October. One of our customers said that previously they could not open only some of the Word documents they received, but nowadays, the could not open any of them. They did not realise this too soon, as they have a StarOffice installation for nasty documents. (Fast Save is at fault, mostly. Fast Save will also put parts of your editing in the document, which sometimes results in the whole history being readable!)
Anyway, I took a deep breath, fixed the problem, and contacted Corel with a general E-mail, not saying anything about the inner workings of the patch, the time it took me to devise it, the price it would cost:
It's a fairly clean small "wrapper" around the filters that 
leaves the installation of WordPerfect as is, it only takes care of the 
- relatively small - billion second problem. My question is if Corel is 
interested in buying the patch and make it generally available to the 
WP8 customer base.
Corel was extremely fast this time. They never answered anything in the newsgroup and only sparsely replied to mail inquiries, but now Dan Alder, Program Manager at Corel Corporation, replied the same day - without asking anything: 
At this point, we're not interested in buying your patch. Thanks for
bringing it to our attention, though.
He also took the time to cancel a message I wrote that said: 
>[...] but Corel has to write a patch to compile it into WP8.
I fixed the bug, and I can tell you that Blueberry bullshitted you. A patch
does not need any recompilation. I assume that Blueberry either changed or
lost their license key generation algorithm, and want Corel to implement a
new one in WordPerfect. But generally speaking there is no need *at all* to
do a recompilation of WordPerfect, as WordPerfect correctly starts the Filtrix
utility, license key and all. Then the Filtrix utils do their own calculation
and give up, as they cannot handle the time stamp. But this has nothing to do
with WordPerfect.

This seems like the perfect way for Corel to get rid of their WP8 user base.
They'll post the patch once the class action suite is there, I bet you.
... telling me "profanity is not allowed in the Corel newsgroups".
Furthermore, he stated that he could not give any comments because "the Corporation was not prepared for that", and finally said that Corel "considered" an official patch and "if" that would be released, he would maybe send me an E-mail.
Oh well. Now the unofficial patch is here, so I assume that Corel will release a patch RSN, stating that they do care and that mr. nasty-hacking- Sessink's patch is a danger to your health.
However, I think proprietary software is a danger to your health, as the proprietary software companies that I know of (except Novell) all play dirty tricks and treat their customers like eh... (profanity is not allowed here). This has cost me a couple of days for which my customers are going to pay - while it is Corel's fault. Too bad.

Valentijn Sessink
Open Office (we were first. Sun is bigger)