CT-PC89E / Chitech GPL Violation update: they're "in the middle"

[Chris DiBona]

I'd rather have the FSF assert what they will or will not do and how
they interpret their license on their software. In fact, I think the
only thing you can be sure of is that the vendor won't be shipping
Linux or free software on this product.

These threads have been painful to watch, not just because of the
vendor not knowing what their duties were under the license, but that
so few people on this list seem to know what free and open source
licenses require of vendors like Chitech.

Chris

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 12:45 PM, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
<luke.leighton at googlemail.com> wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Richard Stallman <rms at gnu.org>
> Date: Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 7:28 PM
> Subject: Re: CT-PC89E / Chitech GPL Violation update: they're "in the middle"
> To: Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <luke.leighton at googlemail.com>
> Cc: arm-netbook at lists.phcomp.co.uk, moglen at softwarefreedom.org
>
>
> Please forward this to legal at lists.gpl-violations.org.
>
>   ok, i just heard back from kimberley of chitech, and she explained
>   that they're "in the middle".  they're just a factory, manufacturing
>   machines.  this puts them in both a difficult position and also in one
>   of power, because they are perfectly well entitled to request the GPL
>   and LGPL source code, just as we are!
>
> This concept of "entitled to request source code" is a
> misunderstanding.  If you try to understand GPL enforcement in those
> terms, it will lead you astray.
>
> The GPL does not say you are "entitled to request source code".
> The GPL says that the distributor is required to provide or offer
> source code.  If he fails to do this, he has violated the license,
> whether or not anyone ever "asks" for that source code.
>
> These requirements apply to every distributor, including Chitech.
> Where Chitech got the code is legally irrelevant.
>
> The FSF staff will explain that to them.
>
>



-- 
Open Source Programs Manager, Google Inc.
Google's Open Source program can be found at http://code.google.com
Personal Weblog: http://dibona.com