German router maker is reminded that open source licences are legally enforceable
The GNU General Public License (GPL) and its "Lesser" version (LGPL) are widely known and used. Still, every so often, a networking hardware maker has to get sued to make sure everyone knows how it works.
"The favourable result of this lawsuit exemplifies the power of copyleft—granting users the freedom to modify, repair, and secure the software on their own devices," the SFC said in a press release. "Companies like AVM receive these immense benefits themselves. This lawsuit reminded AVM that downstream users must receive those very same rights under copyleft."
Just because something is free of cost, does not mean it is free of licensing conditions. Cisco has also found this out in the last. It's really sad when companies profit off the use of open source, but then don't want to give back themselves.
See
German router maker is latest company to inadvertently clarify the LGPL license
A recently closed lawsuit in Germany is the latest in a long-running trend of hardware makers using GPL source code, but not fairly providing it back.
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