BusyBox and the GPL Prevail Again (Groklaw)

The problem in this kind of equipment, as usual, is that the software is not totally GPL - but a mix of GPL software and commercial software.
The manufacturer has signed a contract saying that they will never show the source code of the commercial software.
The manufacturer may have had the possibility to buy that commercial software with the right to redistribute source code in the past, but they did not do so because it was more expensive.
The manufacturer cannot release source code, so the GPL says the manufacturer cannot sell/distribute the equipment.
That is good in the short term because this manufacturer is not allowed to compete with another one doing The Right Thing (TM) even when it is more expensive.
That is good in the long term because the GPL community slowly see how to talk to new hardware to be able to write more drivers.
That is *only* good if there is a country where copyright laws are respected, this case gives more hope.