A GPL compliance case against Iliad

Monday November 19 2007 - PARIS - Several free software writers have
called Iliad, one of the main telecom companies in France, to respect
their work, and a judicial proceeding has begun to demand the respect
of their licence. This action follows repeated refusals of Iliad to
publish the source code of the Free Software included in their Freebox.
Although the writers appreciate "the innovative contributions that
Iliad has made in the telecommunication industry, along its historical
inclination toward Free Software", they are concerned about the reasons
that may have led Iliad to this philosophical swing.

Free software writers, often voluntarily, make their work available to
all. Using the GPL licence, they enable everyone to use, copy, edit,
and redistribute their free software, provided the authorship is
attributed to them and that source code and modifications, in turn, are
made available to all. Among the writers admonishing Iliad are Harald
Welte, author of iptables (an important element of Linux's core) as
well as Rob Landley and Erik Andersen, authors of BusyBox (utilities
suite for embedded hardware). The judicial proceeding only involves the
work of Harald Welte, who will thus be the only one in court, but these
two pieces of software are delivered with the Freebox and used to make
it work.

In an open letter, the writers state that: "with its increasing
success and recently appointed management, Iliad is forgetting its
initial foundation and namesake."  They fear the refusal is brought about
by the wish to take over an increasing part of home computing through
their box, already enhanced through a multimedia box in its latest
version. This refusal actually differentiates Iliad from its main
competition, as Neuf Cegetel has recently published the entire source
code of their box.

At the same time, a donation campaign has been launched to try and
cover the procedural expenses and lawyers' fees. For the writers, this
is a "real challenge", the necessary sum already amounting to €25.000,
and subject to increase should Iliad not withdraw. 

Contact

Xavier Antoviaque
Campaign's Official Spokesman
+33.6.64.44.65.05
xavier@antoviaque.org

URLs

* Open letter and campaign website: 
http://freebox.flouzo.net/

* Questions-Answers :
http://freebox.flouzo.net/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions

* Appeal for contributions :
http://freebox.flouzo.net/wiki/Contribute 

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