Messages in this thread | | | From | "David Schwartz" <> | Subject | RE: GPL Violation of 'sveasoft' with GPL Linux Kernel/Busybox + code | Date | Sun, 7 Nov 2004 17:14:30 -0800 |
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> That may have been the past, but if they dont distribute the > source any more > they are in violation. > > Shawn.
Hmm, so could I condition distribution of my modified version of the Linux kernel on signing a contract agreeing to buy a pencil from me for $25,000 if you ever distribute the source code?
The GPL says:
6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to this License.
As I read this, any penalty you impose on people for exercising their rights under the GPL would be a "further restriction".
For those not familiar, sveasoft revokes your license to receive further updates if you exercise your distribution rights under the GPL. I would argue that conditioning the sale of a GPL'd work on a failure to exercise your rights under the GPL is a "further restriction".
Any penalty of any kind that you impose on someone for exercising their rights under the GPL acts to restrict them from exercising those rights. "If you do X, you lose Y" is a restriction on X.
> Sveasoft has expressed that they think they're in the clear > because they're shipping the sourcecode to older versions of > their distribution and their current version is nothing more > than their old distribution plus some additional proprietary > code.
This would be perfectly okay provided the source code to the older version is identical to the source code in the newer version for all the works based on works that are GPL'd. So long as you can draw a line between the old code and the new code, then this is acceptable. However, if there are changes to GPL'd source code files, then those changes need to be given to anyone who receives binaries from those source code files. In that case, no line can be drawn.
DS
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