GPLv2 copyright suit targets 14 firms

By Eric Brown
2009-12-14

Article Rating:

/ 4

Rate This Article:

Add This Article To:

On behalf of the developers of the BusyBox embedded utilities collection, the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) filed suit against 14 consumer electronics companies for violating GPLv2 licensing requirements. The lawsuit covers almost 20 Linux-based products, from companies including Best Buy, Samsung, Westinghouse, and JVC, says the SFLC.

The SFLC filed its copyright infringement lawsuit in New York today on behalf of the Software Freedom Conservancy, the "non-profit corporate home" of the BusyBox application, among other FOSS projects, as well as on behalf of Erik Andersen, one of the principal BusyBox developers and copyright holders. The suit charges each of the defendants with selling products containing BusyBox in violation of the terms of its GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2) license, principally by not publishing source code for the product.

The suit is the latest of several lawsuits filed by the SFLC in recent years on behalf of the open source BusyBox, a collection of utilities that is widely used in embedded Linux devices. As far as we know, all of the suits have been settled out of court in favor of the plaintiffs (see farther below for background). This is the first such SFLC suit, however, to target so many different companies and products at once, says the pro bono legal organization.

Best Buy's Insignia NS-WBRDVD Blu-ray Disc Player

The companies being sued, and the Linux-based products covered, listed here in the order of their listing in the lawsuit, are said to include:

Best Buy -- Insignia NS-WBRDVD Blu-ray Disc Player
Samsung Electronics America -- LN52A650 and LA26A450 LCD HDTVs
Westinghouse Digital Electronics -- TX-52F480S LCD HDTV
JVC Americas -- LT-42P789 LCD HDTV and VN-C20U IP Network Camera
Western Digital Technologies -- WDBABF0000NBK WD TV HD Media Player
Robert Bosch -- DVR4C Security System DVR
Phoebe Micro -- Airlink101 AR670W and AR690W wireless routers and Airlink101 AICAP650W IP Motion Wireless Camera
Humax USA -- iCord HD HDTV DVR
Comtrend -- CT-5621 and NexusLink 5631/ 5631E ADSL2+ bonded modems
Dobbs-Stanford -- Frame Jazz EyeZone B1080P-2 digital media player
Versa Technology -- PS-730 ITS Gateway and VX-BW2250 weatherproof dual radio outdoor wireless access point
Zyxel Communications -- P-663H-51 ADSL 2+ Bonded 4 Port Router
Astak -- CM-818DVR4V security camera system with DVR and CM-04DE and CM-04DEV security system DVR devices
GCI Technologies -- Cortex HDC-3000 digital music controller

According to the SFLC, which is also a member of OIN's Linux Defenders program, the organization gave each defendant plenty of time to comply with the requirements of the license. The SFLC claims to have involved itself in over a hundred GPL compliance matters, and says that "the vast majority" end with violators voluntarily coming into compliance without the need for a lawsuit.

Stated SFLC counsel Aaron Williamson, "We try very hard to resolve these types of issues privately with companies, as we always prefer cooperation. We brought this suit as a last resort after each of these defendants ignored us or failed to meaningfully respond to our requests that they release the source code."

We last heard from the SFLC in May when the organization announced that Cisco had settled a previous lawsuit the SFLC had filed regarding GPL violations. The lawsuit, which covered Linksys brand devices, including the popular, Linux-based Linksys WRT54GL WiFi router, was notable in that it was the only such suit filed by the SFLC that did not mention BusyBox as a principal plaintiff, and the only one filed on behalf of the Free Software Foundation (FSF).

Previous lawsuits encouraged a number of settlements by several other heavy-hitting firms. For example, Verizon settled with the SFLC when it was discovered that Actiontec's MI424WR wireless router, used by Verizon's FiOS customers, violated the GPL. Other recent SFLC lawsuits have included suits against Extreme Networks, and a separate multi-company suit against Bell Microproducts and SuperMicro Computer, among others.

Availability

More information on today's lawsuit, "Software Freedom Conservancy et al. v. Best Buy et al., 09-cv-10155-SAS," which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, may be found in a PDF of the filing, here.

More information on the SFLC and its various programs and publications designed to encourage open source licensing compliance may be found at their web-site, here.

Related Stories:

	Discuss GPLv2 copyright suit targets 14 firms

	>>> Be the FIRST to comment on this article!



	>>> More News Articles >>> More By Eric Brown

Email Article To Friend ♦ Print Version Of Article ♦ PDF Version Of Article

FUEL Database on MontaVista Linux
Whether building a mobile handset, a car navigation system, a package tracking device, or a home entertainment console, developers need capable software systems, including an operating system, development tools, and supporting libraries, to gain maximum benefit from their hardware platform and to meet aggressive time-to-market goals.

Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Linux Clustering
With a platform comprising a complete Linux distribution, enhanced for clustering, and tailored for HPC, Penguin Computing¿s Scyld Software provides the building blocks for organizations from enterprises to workgroups to deploy, manage, and maintain Linux clusters, regardless of their size.

Data Monitoring with NightStar LX
Unlike ordinary debuggers, NightStar LX doesn¿t leave you stranded in the dark. It¿s more than just a debugger, it¿s a whole suite of integrated diagnostic tools designed for time-critical Linux applications to reduce test time, increase productivity and lower costs. You can debug, monitor, analyze and tune with minimal intrusion, so you see real execution behavior. And that¿s positively illuminating.

Virtualizing Service Provider Networks with Vyatta
This paper highlights Vyatta's unique ability to virtualize networking functions using Vyatta's secure routing software in service provider environments.

High Availability Messaging Solution Using AXIGEN, Heartbeat and DRBD
This white paper discusses a high-availability messaging solution relying on the AXIGEN Mail Server, Heartbeat and DRBD. Solution architecture and implementation, as well as benefits of using AXIGEN for this setup are all presented in detail.

Understanding the Financial Benefits of Open Source
Will open source pay off? Open source is becoming standard within enterprises, often because of cost savings. Find out how much of a financial impact it can have on your organization. Get this methodology and calculator now, compliments of JBoss.

Embedded Hardware and OS Technology Empower PC-Based Platforms
The modern embedded computer is the jack of all trades appearing in many forms.

Data Management for Real-Time Distributed Systems
This paper provides an overview of the network-centric computing model, data distribution services, and distributed data management. It then describes how the SkyBoard integration and synchronization service, coupled with an implementation of the OMG¿s Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard, can be used to create an efficient data distribution, storage, and retrieval system.

7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.