Skype in German Linux battle
p2pnet news | product news:- eBay’s Skype has lost a legal battle in which it’s accused of violating a General Public License (GPL).
A VoIP software seller was offering a handset by the Spanish manufacturer SMC Networks, which runs with Linux, says Heise Online. But, “SMC had shipped the handsets without including the source code and the GPL license text; these omissions amount to violations of the terms of the GNU General Public License”.
Harald Welte of gpl-violations.org, who holds the right of use to parts of the Linux kernel, subsequently filed a complaint.”
SMC apparently tried to rectify the situation by adding a leaflet, “referring to the phone’s GPL and LGPL software and mentioning URLs where the license text and the source code can be downloaded,” says Heise.
But the move was too little and too late, the Munich District Court ruled.
“Although Skype itself was not the manufacturer of the handset, the company would nonetheless, after becoming aware that a violation had occurred, have been obliged to check whether or not the subsequent distribution of the VoIP phone via its website accorded with the law, the District Court stated,” says the story, adding:
For Till Jaeger of the Institute for Legal Issues of Free and Open Source Software(IfrOSS), who was the representative of the plaintiff in court, two aspects of the judgment are remarkable. Firstly, the court had found that the terms imposed by the GPL had to be adhered to strictly. And secondly, a German court had decided to find a foreign vendor guilty of violating the GPL.
Skype has yet to comment and could appeal, says Heise, adding:
“Mr. Jaeger also pointed out that a further lawsuit against SMC Networks for violating the GPL is still pending”.
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Also See:
Heise Online – Skype found guilty of violating the terms of the GPL, July 26, 2007
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