MJ Ray wrote: > While fairly simple, it is totally incorrect, as public distribution in > breach of copyright carries criminal liability in England, as I previously > posted. See the Copyright Designs and Patents Act as amended, under > the criminal liability heading. http://www.jenkins-ip.com/patlaw/cdpa1.htm > I suspect most of the EU has similar law these days, although I cannot > name them.
You're correct, there is criminal liability in most of Europe for "intentional infringement" of copyright. Many countries do however require the copyright holder to file charges against the infringer first. The police won't act by itself (how could they, they have no evidence of an illegal act unless the copyright holder files the accusation of distribution without a license). I do wonder, are the copyright holders of the firmware the only people with standing to sue? If the combination of firmware and GPL-licensed kernel is a derivative of the kernel, then anyone with a copyright interest in the kernel can sue for not obeying the GPL. Arnoud -- Arnoud Engelfriet, Dutch & European patent attorney - Speaking only for myself Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies: http://www.iusmentis.com/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]