Is this a GPL violation case?

[Arnoud Engelfriet]

Ard van Breemen wrote:
> On Mon, May 14, 2007 at 11:11:11PM +0200, Torsten Schlabach wrote:
> > So are they only obliged to provide the source (or whatever) to someone 
> > who has purchased their product? They are not oblidged to make it 
> > publicly available or at least to anyone who asks?
> 
> They are obliged to either:
> - give the source with the product. This is the easiest way to
>   comply for those that make small series dedicated purpose
>   devices.
> - give a written offer to give the source code to whomever also
>   got the binaries for the next 3 years.
> - make the source code publically available for 3 years (ftp
>   server).

That third option is only valid if the binaries are also offered
for download. If you sell a product with embedded GPL software, you
can only bundle the source or include the written offer.

You occasionally see a combination of publicly-hosted source
and written offer. That makes it easier for the company, as
very few people will bother to write to get the source if
they can just download it.

Arnoud

-- 
Arnoud Engelfriet, Dutch & European patent attorney - Speaking only for myself
Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies: http://www.iusmentis.com/