I am an attorney.
Yes, GRSecurity is violating the licensing terms by adding an additional
term; which is explicitly forbidden in the license agreement under-which
they are given permission to modify, distribute, and create derivative
works.
GRSecurity does not have a default right to modify,the linux kernel,
nor to create or distribute derivative works based on it;
this permission is only granted via license by the rights-holder;
the writing states that if its terms are violated that permission
is automatically revoked.
Here GRSecurity violated one of the terms in said writing:
Adding an additional term (no redistribution - or else) to
the agreement between them and further distributees.
Thus they no-longer have license to modify or distribute
the linux kernel, nor do they have license to create or
distribute wholly derivative non-standalone works of the
linux kernel.
Their permission falls back to standard copyright without
some separate agreement with the rights-holder: all rights
reserved.
Yes, they are violating the copyright to Linux at this current time.
On 2017-06-16 00:29, Boris Lukashev wrote:
Your frustration is evident, sorry to see you're upset. However,
spender and team have no obligation to open their source, and for
years now have not done so in their private patches which have more
functionality than the public ones. Nobody complained or sued then,
why start now?
There is no law firm representing Linux as a whole, and no money to
file exploratory suits into uncharted waters allocated to any fund.
I'm about to spend thousands of my own dollars to pay for some of the
porting work upstream... Money far better spent than harassing people
to give up their hard work for free on dubious legal ground. Just
think of them as having gone out of business... For all intents and
purposes they're gone.
If you're not a committer to master, whom they have actually infringed
upon (provably), you have no legal standing at all. If you have code
in the kernel, I'm sure lwn would love to post a story about your
lawsuit once you find an attorney willing to litigate and the money to
pay for an extended plaintiffs position.
Please don't spam the lists, it has no meaningful effect, makes people
angry, and slows the flow of legitimate communication aimed at
improving kernsec. There are better forums for this, and nobody will
read anything anyone else writes and "hear the call to action" to go
sue a man for his life's work... But they do let you vent.
Boris Lukashev
Systems Architect
Semper Victus
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