summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/2006/lwe_nl-gpl_violations/structure.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to '2006/lwe_nl-gpl_violations/structure.txt')
-rw-r--r--2006/lwe_nl-gpl_violations/structure.txt39
1 files changed, 39 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/2006/lwe_nl-gpl_violations/structure.txt b/2006/lwe_nl-gpl_violations/structure.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3a596c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2006/lwe_nl-gpl_violations/structure.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+about the GPL
+- usual stuff
+
+about gpl-violations.org
+- 100+ cases so far
+- most of them settled out of court
+- four preliminary injunctions halting sales (Sitecom, Siemens, Fortinet, ...)
+- one appeals case against preliminary injunction won (Sitecom)
+- one regular civil court case (against D-Link, just one month ago)
+- not a single case was lost at any time
+
+
+what happens if you violate the GPL
+- copyright infringement is a crime, criminal charges could be brought
+- copyright infringement causes civil liabilities
+- sale of your products can be immediately halted by preliminary injunction
+- legal proceedings can be filed against you and your downstream sales chain
+- you can be sued for damages
+- you will have to reimburse all legal fees (your/their lawyers, court fees)
+- you will have to alter all products that are already produced and in stock
+ (include a copy of the license text, source code or written offer thereof)
+- is it really worth all those risks?
+- if you are selling branded OEM/ODM devices or software and don't have the
+ technical resources for compliance checks in-house: for a couple of hundred
+ euros (could be more, depending on complexity) you can have somebody check
+ the product for GPL license compliance before it enters the market.
+
+
+how to avoid GPL licensing problems
+- think about licensing during product development
+- if you sell any OEM device provided by an upstream vendor, check it!
+- make sure you provide the source code always at the same time as object code
+- make sure GPL compliance happens for physical prodcut and website
+- release full corresponding source for each and every firmware update
+- do consider emails/letters about license compliance _SERIOUS_
+- set up a contact address that people can write to in case there think there
+ are license compliance issues
+- if you get caught
+
personal git repositories of Harald Welte. Your mileage may vary