MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-03-17 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Companies accused of violating the GPL
|
Companies accused of violating the GPL
Ingrid Marson, Special to ZDNet
March 17, 2005
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/0,2000061733,39184947,00.htm
Thirteen companies, including Motorola and Acer, have been handed letters
claiming they have failed to comply with the GNU General Public License.
A number of major IT vendors have been accused of misusing software licensed
under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Harald Welte, a Linux kernel developer who runs gpl-violations.org,
personally handed over warning letters to 13 technology companies at CeBIT
this week, including telecoms giant Motorola and PC manufacturer Acer.
Welte claimed that the binary code of the companies' products appears to
have used GPL code, but that they have not made source code available as
required by the GPL. The letter warned companies that this might be the
case, but did not mark the start of legal action, according to Welte.
"While the free and open source community is very happy to see more and more
vendors adopt Linux and other GPL-licensed software, it is of great
importance that those vendors comply with the respective licence conditions,
just like with any other software," said Welte in a statement. "The warning
notice gives them a chance to fix their products before they get into legal
trouble."
Other companies that received a warning letter from Welte included Buffalo
Technology, X-Micro Technology, Micronet, Trendware, Level One, Minitar and
Ovislink.
Motorola, Acer, Buffalo and Trendware were unable to comment in time for
this article.
Welte said he had already received a good response from Taiwanese company
X-Micro, which was apparently not aware of the requirements of the GPL.
"When I went to the X-Micro booth, I met the vice-president of X-Micro and
we sat down and discussed the issue," said Welte. "What he said confirmed my
impression of what's going on in Taiwan -- people there are not aware of
their obligations as they don't have a tradition of copyright in Taiwan."
ZDNet UK's Ingrid Marson reported from London. For more coverage from ZDNet
UK, click here.
Copyright (c) 2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
ZDNET is a registered service mark of CNET Networks, Inc. ZDNET Logo is a
service mark of CNET NETWORKS, Inc.
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