possible violation of GPL by Philips ...

[David Purdy]

Thanks.  While I missed that page/statement, I have already contacted them about getting source.  Hopefully they will be forthcoming with the source.   I will give it some time, make some more contacts with others that have inquired about the source, and see what happens.

Do I understand it correctly that stating that the source is available is not enough, but rather they actually have to make the source available, at least when it is requested?


--- On Fri, 8/22/08, Stephen C. Fedder <sfedder at hotmail.com> wrote:

> From: Stephen C. Fedder <sfedder at hotmail.com>
> Subject: RE: possible violation of GPL by Philips ...
> To: "'David Purdy'" <purdyd_at_wisheights at yahoo.com>, tech at lists.gpl-violations.org
> Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 9:01 AM
> FYI, if you look at the Philips page with the latest
> firmware download on
> their site, this statement is present:
> 
> Open Source Software
> 
> This product contains some Open Source Software code.
> Please see the user
> manual for details. Source code for any concerned software
> under the GNU
> General Public License version 2 and the Mozilla Public
> License 1.1 can be
> obtained via Philips Consumer Care. To contact Philips
> Consumer Care, please
> refer to the following website for telephone numbers and
> mail addresses:
> www.philips.com/support
> 
> Url:
> http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?scy=GB&slg=AEN&mid=Link
> _Software&cat=PC_STORAGE_CA&sct=EXTERNAL_HARD_DISKS_SU&grp=PC_PRODUCTS_GR&se
> ssion=20080822095407_70.88.111.150&ctn=SPD8020CC/05&dct=FUS&did=ENG&file=/fi
> les/s/spd8020cc_05/spd8020cc_05_fur_eng.html
> 
> While this may not excuse not having the information in the
> user manual,
> however the above statement seems to imply that it is there
> someplace.
> Perhaps the physically shipped drive has this statement
> somewhere in
> included documentation not available on the web.  The rules
> only apply if
> they are distributing, as in the firmware download. 
> Anyway, it does appear
> at face value that they are attempting to comply.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Purdy [mailto:purdyd_at_wisheights at yahoo.com] 
> Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:28 PM
> To: tech at lists.gpl-violations.org
> Subject: possible violation of GPL by Philips ...
> 
> Greetings,
> 
> After some discussions regarding NAS hardware, it has come
> to my attention
> that Philips (  Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V in The
> Netherlands ) may
> not be complying with GPL standards.
> 
> The device in question is a NAS (network attached storage)
> unit called the
> SPD8020.  
> 
> Its product page is here
> http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/gb/consumer/cc/_productid_SPD802
> 0CC_05_GB_CONSUMER/External-Hard-Disk+SPD8020CC-05   
> 
> It is sold in much of Europe, including the UK, Germany,
> The Netherlands and
> many other countries.
> 
> Currently, it appears that there is no source posted on any
> of the related
> web pages, and no mention of GPL or sources in the User
> Manual.
> 
> It appears to be running a Linux 2.6.12.6  kernel built on
> the CodeSourcery
> toolchain, a standard for Marvell Orion5x and similar
> board-based devices.
> It also seems to be running Samba.    Its bootloader
> appears to be based on
> UBoot 1.1.4.
> 
> What sort of compelling evidence is required in such a
> situation to make a
> strong case?  Just an email trail and the link above?
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> paw