Controversy arises when people disagree on an issue important to them and want to discuss it. It is also a legal term that applies to appeals to the United States Supreme Court: the court cannot review cases in which there is no controversy.

Similarly, in the 2003 lawsuit by Red Hat against SCO (see SCO vs Linux), SCO filed a motion to dismiss, as they claimed there was no "actual controversy".

See also:

  • Wikipedia:List of controversial issues
  • Wikipedia:NPOV dispute
  • Wikipedia:Accuracy dispute
  • Wikipedia:Current disputes over articles