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Embedded Device Manufacturers Ignoring GPL

Posted by timothy on from the hey-it's-just-a-license dept.

swillden writes "Iain Barker and some other Linux Kernel Mailing List readers have discovered that several manufacturers of DVD players based on the Sigma Designs EM8500 chipset are distributing Linux, both in the devices and as binary-only firmware upgrades, but not providing source. Apparently, Sigma Designs provides its customers with a copy of the kernel as part of a chipset SDK, and those customers are making and selling devices without complying with the terms of the GPL. It's not clear if this is because Sigma didn't tell its customers about the GPL and their obligations, or if they're all ignoring it on their own. Maybe they've all bought licenses from SCO and therefore don't have to comply with the GPL? The LKML post contains a list of some of the infringers."

9 of 779 comments (clear)

  1. Keep this within reason, please. by Masque · · Score: 5, Funny

    If I have to pay an extra USD$25 in shipping when I replace my DVD player because it comes with the kernel source printed out, I'm going to be seriously pissed.

    1. Re:Keep this within reason, please. by shepd · · Score: 5, Funny

      >... Then wouldn't a scanner with OCR software be considered a machine??

      0n, ye5 l an 5une 1L w0u1d oe c0n51dened o na(n1me!

      --
      If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
    2. Re:Keep this within reason, please. by Masque · · Score: 3, Funny

      Absolutely joking. I thought it was an amusing image.

      I mean, clearly, if the vendor had to provide printed source...well, that'd make downloading Fedora somewhat impractical. I don't think IP over fax is fast enough for most people.

  2. Re:But... by Camel+Pilot · · Score: 3, Funny

    I am suprized that SCO has not offered an embedded licence - should be worth at least 2 points for SCOX

  3. Re:But... by JamieF · · Score: 4, Funny

    >DVD don't have processors as such

    Exactly. Instead, the logic for the DVD menus and the MPEG decoding are handled by cheerful little hedgehogs that live inside the DVD player.

    From http://www.sigmadesigns.com/news/press_releases/03 0521.htm:
    "The EM8500 is designed around the system-on-chip concept with an internal 150 Mhz RISC CPU"

    In this context, of course, RISC stands for "Rodents in Spiny Coats."

  4. Re:Its the other way around now by spydir31 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think it's safe to assume nobody is decodeing CSS in the kernel, and that if they are, they'd seperate the keys from the code, right?

  5. Free DVD players? by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 5, Funny

    If SCO is selling embedded licenses for $29 per device and the DVD manufacturers are RETAILING them for $29 at Wally World then they must be giving them away for free.

    When you consider all the middle men and middle-middle men that handle the unit from assembly line in China to the isle pallet at wally world, each handler marking up the unit 100%, or at the very least, 50%, (and figure in shipping costs too!) the cost to produce a DVD player is most likely in the less than $1 per unit range. And if they paid the SCO scam of $29 per unit, they would be losing a LOT of money real fast.

    It's in their best profit-interest to ignore the GPL and do what ever the hell they want. If they get sued they can fold shop, change name/address and be back to cranking out new players the next day.

    Welcome to the wonderful game of "global greed"

  6. Just how many "Bruce Perens" are there? by heironymouscoward · · Score: 3, Funny

    by Bruce Perens (3872)
    by .Bruce Perens (150539)

    So will the real Bruce Perens please stand up and his karma whoring alterego please step aside? Unless you're _both_ the real Bruce Perens, in which case I excuse myself, oh schizophrenic one!

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
  7. Re:A typical day on Slashdot... by steeviant · · Score: 3, Funny

    And one story with a post where someone who clearly spends a lot of time reading stuff on Slashdot whines about how bad it is.

    What is this, some kind of public self-flagellation ritual or something?