Is System shock 1 necessary to understanding the story of SS2? Why did it not come to GOG with SS2? Is it owned by someone other then the owners of SS2? Basically i just want to know if i Will get lost/confused playing SS2 if i have not played SS1. Thanks for any help/advice.

I haven't played SS1 (and I bet a majority of others haven't either) and I found the story in SS2 perfectly clear and self contained. While the characters and story explain themselves fine in the game, if you want some background you can simply read the bits about setting and story in the manual.

go through the SS1 wikipedia article, that should be more than enough.

There is a point in the game where you'll get the gist of what happened in SS1 and how it ties to the events occurring in SS2.

Thanks guys.