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Exploitation of Open Source VoIP
n8twj writes " With John 'Maddog' Hall pointing out that Open Source VoIP will be bigger than Linux ever has been. How can we be sure that un-ethical companies will not try to steal code that is covered under the GPL and try to pass it off as their own? Recently, I have become aware that SysMaster has been redistrbuting a version of the Asterisk PBX written by Mark Spencer from Digium and many others. SysMaster claims that they wrote everything in-house, while they have surely done their own development, they are using Asterisk to power their product line without following the rules. In terms of full disclosure, my company also provides Asterisk-based solutions, however we have fully embraced Asterisk and gladly contribute back to the GPL."
Is it possible they are using Asterisk? yeah I dont see why not Asterisk is a Great Product, but like mySQL, Asterisk does offer a commercial NON-GPL license.
It could be possible that they paid for a NON-GPL'd Version that they used as a base.
The government needs to be keeping tabs on this, or at the very least making inquiries when complaints are launched.
Why? Because open source licenses protect the public good.
In fact, I suggest that FSF and others lobby the government to have open source licenses registeres with an agency. Any software released under a registered license will have that license protected by the government. The simple establishment of the rules should scare most out of eploitation.
IALs can work out the details.
I don't see GPL violations becoming a big problem. First of all, the loss to the open source community from abuses of the GPL is mainly the lack of contributions. That is partially balanced out by the fact that the company in question is at least not using some proprietary solution. Second, the problem is self-limiting: if a company gets to be large enough, someone is going to notice the GPL violation and the company will likely settle the resulting legal action quickly.
For BSD-licensed software (are there any BSD VoIP solutions?), companies are even welcome to use the software and make it proprietary. Proponents of BSD probably believe that it's better to have companies use open-source derived software even if they don't give back than to lose more companies to proprietary vendors. (Personally, I think it needs to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.)
If the copyright holder doesn't know what to do, direct them to this story for now.
Someone should really setup a site which helps handle GPL violations by directing copyright holders to the right legal people & offers advice for how to handle violations. A database or wiki could also be setup to record alleged GPL violations & how they were resolved. IIRC, the mplayer project keeps some information on GPL violations on their website. Many were resolved & their site records this.
I'd be happy to help with such a project with my time and content.
You address a "crowd" of perhaps 90.000 persons, but still attempt to base a point on the history of perhaps 6.000 users you likely have seen with the comments on free exchange as the same perhaps 20.000 concerned with open source IP rights. Angry? There is no real justification but what is happening in your mind for that shallow statement.
Maybe I am just ignorant in the issue, but I am curious.. What advantage is gained by companies using OS software and not contributing back?
I am not saying that everyone that uses OS software should be working on contributions. It certainly doesn't hurt the OS community.. But you seem to have a tone that there is some benefit from companies using OS software without giving back.
Unless I am missing something, that leaves the software right where it started.. And while it doesn't hurt it, it doesn't seem to help it either.
--- "End Of Line" - MCP
Do what the Business Software Alliance does. Encourage disgruntled employees to be anonymous whistle-blowers. A nonprofit can set up a clearing house which receives evidence and even pays out rewards for verified infringements.
With enough money, they can also take out radio ads similar to the ominous BSA warnings that get played here in Chicago once a year.
...to uncover those in breach of the GPL.
GrokCheat, anyone?
Sean Ellis
Follow OfQuack's antics on Twitter.
So it looks to me like "the /. crowd" has a general lack of moral outrage over people sharing copyrighted material for free without the person being shared with buying a license, but does have moral outrage over people taking copyrighted material, repackaging it, presenting it as their own work, and selling it to others for a profit in violation of license.
/. community thinks it's ok to steal as long as it's not their work being stolen
So... congratulations! You have demonstrated that the slashdot community has two different consensus viewpoints on two different issues.
Or more clearly - the
Something analogous to gpl violations in the music world would be not file-sharing, but bootlegging-- people who bulk-fabricate copies of commercial CDs and then sell them-- a practice which I've yet to see anyone on slashdot defend.
So if a company simply doesn't claim ownership of the code, but merely gives it away free if you buy the hardware, it's ok since all they're doing is sharing a file in violation of a license?
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
The simplest way is to use a BSD license and not worry about it. There are plenty of ways to make money off of GPL'ed code without violating GPL that if money is your concern, GPL isn't going to stop people anyway, so might as well just let anyone use it for whatever they want and be done with it.
1) Yes, I am aware that the Copyright Office does not actively police copyrights. My original comment emphasized snideness over precision.
2) In the US, at least, Linus could not possibly make a workable libel case against SCO. In a country like Britain with a lower threshold for libel, there might be some value.
3) Lack of enforcement does not weaken copyright, and certainly does not weaken GPL licensing as a whole.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...