Subject: Re: Linksys purges all older firmware due to GPL request From: "Paolo Del Bene" <[email protected]> Date: Wed, October 23, 2013 07:27:00 am To: Cc: [email protected]
http://support.linksys.com/en-eu/softwarenotice GPL Software Notice Dear Customer / To Whom It May Concern, You may have received from Linksys, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Belkin International, Inc., certain products that contained – in part – some free software (software licensed in a way that ensures your freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software). Such products include the ADSL2MUE, EFG120, EFG250, NAS200, NSLU2, RV series (including RV016, RV042, RV082, RVS4000, RV0041, and RVL200), SPA400, WAG54G, WAG300N, WAP series (including WAP4400N, WAP55AG, WAP4400N, and WAP54GPE), WET54GS5, WIP300, WMA11B, WPG54G, WRE54G, WRT series (including WRT54GL, WRT54GX, WRT54GX2, WRT54GX4, WRT54GR, WRT55AGv1, WRT55AGv2, WRTP54G, WRT54GS, WRT55AG, WRT350N, and WRT300N), WRV series (including WRV200, WRV54G, WRV54G-CA, and WRVS4400N), WVC54GC, WVC54G, and Quick-VPN products. As part of these products, Linksys or its distributors may have distributed to you hardware and/or software, or made available electronic downloads, that contained a version of BINUTILS, GCC, GDB, LIBC, LIBFETISH, LIBIBERTY, PARTED, READLINE, and WGET, which are free (i.e., freedom-respecting – see http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html for more details) software programs developed by the Free Software Foundation, a separate not-for-profit organization without any affiliation to Linksys. If we distributed any of these free software programs to you, we want you to know that you were granted a license to that software under the terms of either the GNU General Public License or GNU Lesser General Public License (“Licenses”; copies of which are available from http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html). The Licenses allow you to freely copy, modify and redistribute that software and no other statement or documentation from us, including our End User License Agreement, places any additional restrictions on what you may do with that software. Further, for at least three (3) years from the date of distribution of the applicable product or software, we will give to anyone who contacts us at the contact information provided below, for a charge of no more than our cost of physically performing source code distribution, a complete machine – readable copy of the complete corresponding source code for the version of the Programs that we distributed to you if we are in possession of such. In addition, the source code for the latest version (as of May 15, 2009) of the free software programs in connection with the above current products (except for RV016, RV042, RV082, WAP54G, WRE54G and WRT54G3G-VN) is available for free download at http://support.linksys.com/gplcodecenter (the source code for the RV016, RV042, RV082, WAP54G, WRE54G and WRT54G3G-VN products will be available for free download from that url by November 15, 2009). Contact Information for Requesting Source Code: Linksys 131 Theory Drive Irvine, CA 92617 Tel: 949-823-3000 Fax: 949-823-4698 To initiate a GPL request, click here. Attn: Free Software Director and Office of General Counsel Sincerely, Linksys ---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- Subject: Re: Linksys purges all older firmware due to GPL request From: "James Hilliard" <[email protected]> Date: Tue, October 22, 2013 1:26 pm To: Cc: [email protected] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The software contained on the router when sold appears to be irrelevant for this particular case, and they do appear to provide GPL license information at least on their PDF manuals, although they often provide these whether or not the routers actually contain GPL code. Providing for download on their website the full software image(often not the same as provided on the router itself) appears to be the point of contention and in my reading of the GPL they are obligated to provide GPL source of those images for 3 years of distribution from their website as well. So even if the make a router EOL if they leave the firmware images up they still have to comply with the GPL in regards to those right? They did seem to have GPL notices posted more or less properly but when asked for the source to those downloads they pulled the images and refused source for a number of them using EOL as justification. Oddly enough they still appear to be working on getting source to the first one I contested. On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 6:47 PM, Ian Stirling <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 10/21/2013 09:57 PM, James Hilliard wrote: > > They are attempting to use the fact that these routers are EOL and not > being sold anymore as some sort of GPL exception but they have provided > firmware for these routers directly from their website up until a few days > ago. > > > On a strictly technical reading of the license. > > *3.** You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, > under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of > Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following: * > * * * > * *a)** Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable > source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 > above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or, * * > * *b)** Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three > years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of > physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy > of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of > Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software > interchange; or, * * > * *c)** Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to > distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed only for > noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program in object > code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with Subsection b > above.) * > c) of course doesn't apply, as it's noncommercial. > > If they did not accompany it with source, and I don't think anyones > arguing that - they could only be in compliance if there was actually a > written offer in the box. > > If there was - then they are only required to keep the router source up > for 3 years. > > If there was not - then they are not required to post source in any form, > as it does not affect the license, because linux was never licenced. > > You cannot technically comply with GPLv2 after the fact - you need to > either supply the source, or a written offer. You cannot after-the-fact > 'accompany it with' either a written offer or source code. > > Of course - posting the source may affect hypothetical damages from their > copyright violations. > > (Linksys has no rights to distribute linux in the above cases, but the > users are licensed separately by clause 6.) >
The software contained on the router when sold appears to be irrelevant
for this particular case, and they do appear to provide GPL license
information at least on their PDF manuals, although they often provide
these whether or not the routers actually contain GPL code. Providing
for download on their website the full software image(often not the same
as provided on the router itself) appears to be the point of contention
and in my reading of the GPL they are obligated to provide GPL source
of those images for 3 years of distribution from their website as well.
So even if the make a router EOL if they leave the firmware images up
they still have to comply with the GPL in regards to those right? They
did seem to have GPL notices posted more or less properly but when asked
for the source to those downloads they pulled the images and refused
source for a number of them using EOL as justification. Oddly enough
they still appear to be working on getting source to the first one I
contested.
On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 6:47 PM, Ian Stirling <[email protected]> wrote:
On a strictly technical reading of the license.
On 10/21/2013 09:57 PM, James Hilliard wrote:
They are attempting to use the fact that these routers are EOL and not being sold anymore as some sort of GPL exception but they have provided firmware for these routers directly from their website up until a few days ago.
3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
- a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
- b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
- c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program in object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
c) of course doesn't apply, as it's noncommercial.
If they did not accompany it with source, and I don't think anyones arguing that - they could only be in compliance if there was actually a written offer in the box.
If there was - then they are only required to keep the router source up for 3 years.
If there was not - then they are not required to post source in any form, as it does not affect the license, because linux was never licenced.
You cannot technically comply with GPLv2 after the fact - you need to either supply the source, or a written offer. You cannot after-the-fact 'accompany it with' either a written offer or source code.
Of course - posting the source may affect hypothetical damages from their copyright violations.
(Linksys has no rights to distribute linux in the above cases, but the users are licensed separately by clause 6.)
