Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 9, 2026 8:01 UTC (Fri) by Wol (subscriber, #4433)
In reply to: Why doesn't VIZIO just comply? by marcH
Parent article: SFC v. VIZIO: who can enforce the GPL?

The problem is probably (a) they don't have the source (quite likely if it's an OEM TV), and (b) as far as the SFC is concerned, they tried in bad faith.

If they'd come clean and said "We didn't know, our supplier hasn't given us the source, please help us comply" the SFC wouldn't have taken this action, but I think Visio has a reputation for ignoring/fobbing off requests for source, which is why they were targetted.

Cheers,
Wol

to post comments

Why doesn't VIZIO just comply?

Posted Jan 9, 2026 13:14 UTC (Fri) by pizza (subscriber, #46) [Link]

> If they'd come clean and said "We didn't know, our supplier hasn't given us the source, please help us comply" the SFC wouldn't have taken this action, but I think Visio has a reputation for ignoring/fobbing off requests for source, which is why they were targetted.

No, Vizio would never actually say that, for the simple reason that it's an admission of guilt. And per the SFC this suit was filed after 2-3 years of attempts to go about this the nice way.

Vizio is shipping GPL-covered binaries; *they* have the obligation to produce the complete corresponding source code one in one of the ways enumerated in the GPL. "But we don't have access to it!" doesn't absolve them of that legal requirement.