On December 17, the Software Freedom Law Center ("SFLC") announced it has settled its GPL enforcement lawsuit filed on behalf of BusyBox developers Erik Andersen and Rob Landley against Xterasys Corporation. (Blogged about here)
Xterasys' ability to distribute BusyBox will apparently be reinstated once the SFLC verifies that Xterasys is making its source code available in accordance with the GPL. Xterasys has also appointed an Open Source Compliance Office to monitor GPL compliance and notify previous recipients of BusyBox of their rights to source code. The settlement also included an undisclosed financial payment by Xterasys to the BusyBox developers.
Additional GPL lawsuits are sure to follow. If you are unsure if your software products contain code subject to the GPL or if you are unsure if you are in compliance with the GPL, auditing your products to determine your level of exposure is advisable. Developing a framework for incorporating open source software into your products is key to ensuring you have the ability to fully exploit your intellectual property on your own terms.
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