BusyBox Sues Again
by Mike Gunderloy - Jul. 23, 2008Comments (3)- Related Blog Posts
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The news came today from the Software Freedom Law Center that they've filed another suit to enforce the GPL on behalf of the developers of BusyBox. This time the company in the sights is Extreme Networks, manufacturers of various switches and other products. Will we finally get our test of the GPL in a US court?
If history is any guide, the answer is "no." As we've covered before, the SFLC and BusyBox have been in this position more than once, and the result has always been that the sued company has chosen to settle out of court. In fact, just today the SFLC announced another settlement on behalf of BusyBox, in which Super Micro Computer agreed to the usual terms: distribute the source code, appoint an Open Source Compliance Officer, and pay some money.
While it's good to see the GPL continue to be enforced - with an unbroken string of successes - it's starting to seem odd that BusyBox is the only outfit filing suit. Is it just because, since they've done it before, the SFLC can whip up a new suit from boilerplate text quickly? Is it because their software is peculiarly suited to being stolen by embedded-device manufacturers, who are less likely to pay attention to licensing than others?
In any case, other open source projects can continue to be thankful that the SFLC and BusyBox are willing to go through the effort of holding corporate feet to the fire. Perhaps Extreme Networks will finally be the ones who take the GPL all the way to court - though I doubt it.
