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Big Win for GNU GPL in France
,----[ Quote ]
| One of the fallback positions for purveyors of FUD is that
| the GNU GPL may not be valid, because it hasn't been
| properly tested in court. That's getting increasingly
| implausible as a stance. After being upheld in Germany a
| few times, here's a big decision in its favour in France:
|
| In a landmark ruling that will set legal precedent, the
| Paris Court of Appeals decided last week that the company
| Edu4 violated the terms of the GNU General Public License
| (GPL) when it distributed binary copies of the remote
| desktop access software VNC but denied users access to its
| corresponding source code. The suit was filed by
| Association pour la formation professionnelle des adultes
| (AFPA), a French education organization.
|
| ...
|
| The events of the case go back to early 2000, when Edu4
| was hired to provide new computer equipment in AFPA's
| classrooms. Shortly thereafter, AFPA discovered that VNC
| was distributed with this equipment. Despite repeated
| requests, with mediation from the Free Software Foundation
| France, Edu4 refused to provide AFPA with the source code
| to this version of VNC. Furthermore, FSF France later
| discovered that Edu4 had removed copyright and license
| notices in the software. All of these activities violate
| the terms of the GNU GPL. AFPA filed suit in 2002 to
| protect its rights and obtain the source code.
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/09/big-win-for-gnu-gpl-in-france.html
Recent:
The GPL Wins Again - Welte vs. Skype Technologies SA (Germany)
,----[ Quote ]
| Well, today was the hearing, and Welte reports that one of the judges told
| Skype's lawyer that if a copyright owner wants a publisher to publish his
| book in a green envelope, it might seem odd to the publisher, but he can't
| publish without the green envelope. In short, don't touch the GPL code if you
| don't follow the requirements of the license.
|
| Like it or lump it. I think that's how one would translate into English the
| judge's mindset.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080508212535665
Related:
Another GPL Lawsuit is Settled
,----[ Quote ]
| Third lawsuit over open source license violations is now closed. This time,
| it's a 'learning experience.'
`----
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3732511/BusyBox+Settles+Another+GPL+Lawsuit.htm
BusyBox and Xterasys Settle GPL Lawsuit
,----[ Quote ]
| BusyBox has just successfully settled its GPL ligitation against Xterasys.
| Xterasys has agreed to stop all binary distribution of BusyBox until the
| Software Freedom Law Center confirms that it has published complete source
| code on its web site.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071217142920618
BusyBox Developers, SFLC Sue Verizon for GPL Infringement
,----[ Quote
| The same two principal developers already successfully sued Monsoon Media,
| and they have litigation pending against Xterasys Corporation and High-Gain
| Antennas, LLC. Here is the press release from the Software Freedom Law Center
| on the Verizon suit, followed by the complaint as text.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2007120713435029
Verizon Being Sued for GPL Infringement
,----[ Quote ]
| According to the SFLC, Verizon can be added to the list of companies
| infringing on the GPL. They filed a lawsuit in New York yesterday (pdf)
| alleging that the company is handing out routers using the GPL'd
| software 'BusyBox' without accompanying source code.
`----
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/07/1953217&from=rss
Second Round of GPL Infringement Lawsuits Filed on Behalf of BusyBox Developers
,----[ Quote ]
| The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) today announced that it has filed two
| more copyright infringement lawsuits on behalf of its clients, two principal
| developers of BusyBox, alleging violation of the GNU General Public License
| (GPL). The defendants in the lawsuits are Xterasys Corporation and High-Gain
| Antennas, LLC. BusyBox is a lightweight set of standard Unix utilities
| commonly used in embedded systems and is open source software licensed under
| GPL version 2.
`----
http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2007/nov/20/busybox/
Is the Monsoon settlement a missed opportunity?
,----[ Quote ]
| Certainly more was hoped for from the first US GPL lawsuit. âThis case is
| very important because it will establish what type of remedies (either
| contract or copyright) are available to licensors for breach of the GPLv2,â
| wrote Mark Radcliffe at the time the complaint was filed.
|
| However, for those looking for legal precedent, all may not be lost. âStay
| tuned, however, as this is likely not the last lawsuit we will see here in
| the U.S. to enforce the terms of the GPL,â notes Haislmaier.
`----
http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2007/10/31/is-the-monsoon-settlement-a-missed-opportunity/
Do Microsoft's EULAs have any real legal basis?
,----[ Quote ]
| "Microsoft has no special exemption from the sale of goods act." Well,
| no, probably not - but it might still be selling you "services"
| instead of "goods". But the real point to remember is that it doesn't
| matter a jot what the "logical" position is, it is what the courts
| decide that matters.
|
| As far as I know, no one has tested Microsoft's EULAs in a UK court
| and, until someone does, Microsoft will just go on assuming that they
| work. And I don't fancy the risk of taking on Microsoft's expensive
| lawyers in court myself...
`----
http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/04/25/microsoft_eula/
BusyBox Developers and Monsoon Multimedia Agree to Dismiss GPL Lawsuit
,----[ Quote ]
| The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) and Monsoon Multimedia today jointly
| announced that an agreement has been reached to dismiss the GPL enforcement
| lawsuit filed by SFLC on behalf of two principal developers of BusyBox.
`----
http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2007/oct/30/busybox-monsoon-settlement/
And Just Like That, The Games End â First Ever GPL Lawsuit Dismissed
,----[ Quote ]
| In the agreement to dismiss the lawsuit, the SFLC is reporting that Monsoon
| Multimedia has agreed to appoint an âOpen Source Compliance Officerâ within
| its organization âto monitor and ensure GPL compliance, to publish the source
| code for the version of BusyBox it previously distributed on its web site,
| and to undertake substantial efforts to notify previous recipients of BusyBox
| from Monsoon Multimedia of their rights to the software under the GPL.
|
| [...]
|
| Stay tuned, however, as this is likely not the last lawsuit we will see here
| in the U.S. to enforce the terms of the GPL.
`----
http://thinkingopen.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/and-just-like-that-the-games-end-first-ever-gpl-lawsuit-dismissed/
SFLC: Setting Legal Precedent Not the Goal of GPL Case
,----[ Quote ]
| Software Freedom Law Center co-founder Dan Ravicher says the Centerâs
| copyright infringement case against Monsoon Multimedia on behalf of the
| creators of BusyBox is not about setting legal precedent for the use and
| interpretation of the GNU General Public License.
`----
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/osb/?p=241
GPL defenders say: See you in court
,----[ Quote ]
| The license also requires anyone distributing GPL software, in an executable
| form that a computer can run, to make the complete source code available. One
| example: Cisco Systems subsidiary Linksys, which shares the GPL software
| used in its wireless networking equipment.
`----
http://www.news.com/GPL-defenders-say-See-you-in-court/2100-7344_3-6210837.html
First U.S. GPL lawsuit heads for quick settlement
,----[ Quote ]
| The first U.S. GPL-related lawsuit appears to be headed for a quick
| out-of-court settlement. Monsoon Multimedia admitted today that it had
| violated the GPLv2 (GNU General Public License version 2), and said it will
| release its modified BusyBox code in full compliance with the license.
`----
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS3761924232.html
New Method To Detect and Prove GPL Violations
,----[ Quote ]
| "A paper to be presented at the upcoming academic conference Automated
| Software Engineering describes a new method to detect code theft and could be
| used to detect GPL violations in particular. While the co-called birthmarking
| method is demonstrated for Java, it is general enough to work for other
| languages as well..."
`----
http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/25/1648253&from=rss
German Court convicted Skype of violating the GPL
,----[ Quote ]
| German district court Munich has convicted Skype of violating the GPL. One of
| the VoIP telephones sold by Skype run Linux, but the GPL text was not handed
| out together with the phone, although the GPL requires that.
`----
http://liquidat.wordpress.com/2007/07/24/german-court-convicted-skype-of-violating-the-gpl/#comment-27057
German GPL defender claims legal victory
,----[ Quote ]
| Open-source programmer Harald Welte said Thursday he won a civil court
| case in Germany centered on the General Public License (GPL). The license
| governs many open-source projects and permits anyone to use software
| covered by it, but requires that companies incorporating GPL software
| make the underlying source code available.
`----
http://news.com.com/2061-10795_3-6113453.html?part=rss&tag=6113453&subj=news
gpl-violations.org project prevails in court case on GPL violation by D-Link
,----[ Quote ]
| D-Link Germany GmbH, a subsidiary of D-Link Corporation, Taiwan R.O.C.,
| distributed DSM-G600, a network attached storage (NAS) device which uses a
| Linux-based Operating System. However, this distribution was incompliant
| with the GNU General Public License (GPL) which covers the Linux Kernel and
| many other software programs used in the product.
`----
http://gpl-violations.org/news/20060922-dlink-judgement_frankfurt.html
Wallace's Appeal Firmly Rejected - GPL Has Nothing to Fear [pdf]
,----[ Quote ]
| PJ: "Just so you know, Daniel Wallace's appeal of the ruling
| against him in his pro se quest to overthrow the GPL on antitrust
| grounds, one of SCO's daydreams too, has been firmly rejected by
| the appeals court, as I knew it would be."
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/pdf/WallaceAppealRejected.pdf
Would Dostoevsky Use the GPL?
,----[ Quote ]
| I get nervous whenever large software shops talk up the virtues of a license
| with fewer protections of developer and user rights. In the linked articles
| above, there is talk of permissive licenses being the path of least
| resistance, with the premise that it's "easier" to gravitate towards them. My
| question is - easier for whom? Easier for the developers or easier for the
| companies who wish to make use of it without those annoying obligations to
| the greater free software ecosystem? As is often mentioned by others smarter
| than me, a scenario where developers gravitate towards permissive licenses
| makes it easier for companies to avoid community reciprocity.
`----
http://tinosc.blogspot.com/2007/09/would-dostoevsky-use-gpl.html
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