Hi all guys! Yes - I intend to proceed, absolutely. But surely I need help to formulate that lettere - due to my scarce attitude to communication in "formal" language and my poor english, not mentioning my scarce skills in being nice! :)
We didn't ask the source code yet, but let's try! It would be very helpful if you can contact me in IRC - being visually impaired, makes me try to avoid bloated websites like the one at vodafone.de. But, once we have amil address and some understandable english text, I will do my best to go ahead with you all! Feel Free to contact me privately if you need. I'm very determined in taking this to and end - OpenWrt project changed my life entirely, since now I have the control of my network devices, even without using a stupid web interface. I should give them back at least what it's essential: respect. Thank you. On Fri, 21 Jun 2013, Nils Faerber wrote: ==Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 12:26:52 +0200 ==From: Nils Faerber <[email protected]> ==To: [email protected] ==Subject: Re: [GPL Violation] Vodafone (DE) -> ArCadyan -> Easybox 904 product == ==Am 20.06.2013 22:11, schrieb Enrico Mioso: ==> Hi all guys! My name is Enrico. I'm writing this message to you all, to ==> signal a GPL violation. ==> I don't know if this is exaclty the right place to do so - still, I felt ==> confortable in writing to the tech list more than the others, due to my ==> inexperience in legal issues. ==> ==> The main motivation behind this message, is the respect I desire for the ==> OpenWrt team itself, for the GPL license and all the people who ==> contribute their code. ==> ==> Status: ==> In the device, an OpenWrt Kamikaze release is used (8.04), booted with ==> the ==> U-Boot source code. the user doesn't receiver any source code, neither ==> the ==> permission to modify anything in the device, being the boot-loader ==> password ==> protected. ==> ==> Links: ==> Here is the root filesystem: ==> http://intercity-vpn.de/files/openwrt/arcadyan_twonkey-networks_vodafone_easybox_904/ ==> ==> ==> and here the full firmware image, European version: ==> http://media.vodafone.de/www/assets/software/FW904/UEfullimage_AT904L-01.07.bin ==> ==> can someone help us? == ==This looks to me like a pretty clear case. == ==Have you asked Vodafone f?r the GPL/LGPL sourcecode(s) yet? == ==If yes, how did they respond? == ==If not, I would suggest to do so. ==I did this several times in the past and in most cases it did take some ==effort to overcome the customer firewall (aka "support") and get to the ==right people but in the end they started to understand and to resolve ==the issue. == ==It is your right as a receiver of the compiled binary to ask the ==supplier of that binary for the GPL/LGPL sourcecodes that were used to ==create exactly those binaries. And there is no way around it and no ==reason to deny you that right. And this is what you need to convey to ==Vodafone. They *have* to comply. Important here is to set a time limit - ==be nice and say 10 working days. ==If you have problems formulating this letter, let me know and I can help ==with this. If you do not want to hassle with them, same offer is valid, ==tell me and I will try my best. The binary is publicly available so ==practically anyone that can download this blob can also ask for the source. == ==If they then still refuse to do so we need to take it one step further. ==This means formal legal stuff - a cease and desist letter from a lawyer. ==This needs to happen within around four weeks after your/our first ==contact with them - this is four weeks after they were made aware of the ==licensing violation. The four weeks are not cast in stone but are common ==in this area. == ==If they then refuse to sign the cease and desist letter and do not give ==the code it must be taken to court, i.e. we need to contract a lawyer, ==take the case to court in order to get a "distribution stop warrant" ==("einstweilige Verf?gung" in German, I do not know the exact English term). == ==Cheers == nils == ==
