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SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBox Developers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Software Freedom Law Center Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBox Developers NEW YORK, June 10, 2008 -- The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) today announced that it has filed two more copyright infringement lawsuits, on behalf of two principal developers of BusyBox, alleging violation of the GNU General Public License (GPL). The defendants in this new round of lawsuits are Bell Microproducts, Inc. and Super Micro Computer, Inc. BusyBox is a lightweight set of standard Unix utilities commonly used in embedded systems and is open source software licensed under GPL version 2. One of the conditions of the GPL is that re-distributors of BusyBox are required to ensure that each downstream recipient is provided access to the source code of the program. Both companies have continued to distribute BusyBox illegally without complete source code, despite having been contacted by SFLC. The complaints request that an injunction be issued against each company and that damages and litigation costs be awarded to the plaintiffs. Copies of the complaints are available at http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2008/jun/10/busybox/ "Before filing these lawsuits, we contacted both companies and gave them the opportunity to remedy their violations privately, but they were continually unresponsive," said Aaron Williamson, SFLC Counsel. "When companies are contacted by SFLC or anyone else about a GPL violation, they need to respond by taking good faith steps toward compliance. If they do not, lawsuits like these are the predictable consequences." The lawsuits filed yesterday are the latest in a series of GPL enforcement lawsuits filed on behalf of BusyBox developers Erik Andersen and Rob Landley. All of the previous lawsuits have resulted in out-of-court settlements requiring the defendants to distribute source code in compliance with the GPL. The lawsuits announced today were both filed June 9 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. About the Software Freedom Law Center The Software Freedom Law Center -- directed by Eben Moglen, one of the world's leading experts on copyright law as applied to software -- provides legal representation and other law-related services to protect and advance Free and Open Source Software. The Law Center is dedicated to assisting non-profit open source developers and projects. Visit SFLC at http://www.softwarefreedom.org. Media contact: Jim Garrison Public Relations Coordinator Software Freedom Law Center +1-212-461-1910 garrison@softwarefreedom.org ### (Log in to post comments)
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 10, 2008 20:13 UTC (Tue) by egoforth (subscriber, #2351) [Link] I'm really saddened by this. I've been a loyal Supermicro customer for almost a decade now, purchasing their motherboards almost exclusively both for work and home. How useful would it be to contact them, as a customer and end-user? Have there been any follow-up studies done showing the effectiveness (or lack) for efforts like this?
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 10, 2008 20:37 UTC (Tue) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link] I donno. Tell them what you told us. Tell them that this sort of thing is important.
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 10, 2008 21:02 UTC (Tue) by trasz (guest, #45786) [Link] Another reason for embedded system vendors to choose BSD next time. ;-)
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 10, 2008 21:46 UTC (Tue) by leoc (subscriber, #39773) [Link] And then when they get yelled at for not coughing up for that 'free' software they can choose the public domain license. 8>
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 15, 2008 21:56 UTC (Sun) by trasz (guest, #45786) [Link] The difference here is between being annoyed at someone, and threatening that someone with a lawsuit. Embedded system vendor can ignore Theo, but cannot ignore GPL folks' lawsuit.
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 10, 2008 22:56 UTC (Tue) by flewellyn (subscriber, #5047) [Link] Or to just follow the license of the software they use.
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 10, 2008 23:54 UTC (Tue) by clump (subscriber, #27801) [Link] Or to just follow the license of the software they use.I couldn't agree more. It never ceases to amaze me how often people find excuses for not following the terms of licenses. The requirements of the GPL in particular are a pittance compared to the value it provides.
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 11, 2008 0:36 UTC (Wed) by flewellyn (subscriber, #5047) [Link] Well, the whole BSD vs GPL flamewar is utterly stupid, and I'm convinced that some people engage in it just out of spite (Theo), or to have something to fight about (also Theo).
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 11, 2008 0:09 UTC (Wed) by tialaramex (subscriber, #21167) [Link] It's possible to disobey the terms of almost any license. Traditionally what this sort of company does with BSD or MIT licensed software is they include it in a product, but file off all the copyright notices replacing them with their own. And then when they're asked if they're using BSD code, they reply "No". Also they ignore any future security fixes, and they add just enough proprietary bits to ensure that the original BSD code is no substitute, so their customers can't just switch to that. This apparently makes BSD developers a bit upset. Even people who've supposedly dedicated their work to the public domain often don't seem too happy to see it re-published, for profit, with their name stripped from it and someone else's included.
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 11, 2008 12:54 UTC (Wed) by robert_s (guest, #42402) [Link] And yet they never do. Funny, that.
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 11, 2008 17:49 UTC (Wed) by vmole (subscriber, #111) [Link] Well, if you're going to ignore the license anyway, it doesn't really matter which one you ignore, does it?
SFLC Files Another Round of GPL Violation Lawsuits on Behalf of BusyBoxDevelopers Posted Jun 11, 2008 22:32 UTC (Wed) by DRBaldock (subscriber, #30881) [Link] Some developers/companies may be more likely to file a lawsuit than others. ;-)
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