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GPL Violators On The Prowl

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the neither-rain-nor-snow-nor-hail-nor-packetstorm dept.

ravenII writes "GPL Violations.org are looking after the GPL. Warning letters were personally handed over to companies at their CeBIT booths by Mr. Harald Welte, free software developer and founder of the gpl-violations.org project. It seems big boys like Motorola, Acer, AOpen, Micronet, Buffalo and Trendware seem to violate GPL. Please visit the site for more information on GPL enforcements and violators."

26 of 636 comments (clear)

  1. Ooohhh.. Leters! by Kenja · · Score: 2, Funny
    That'll show them!

    Whats next, rude phone calls? Or how about ringing the door bell and then running away?

    Sorry, but its not like Motorola is going to stop because a group they never heard of handed them a letter.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Ooohhh.. Leters! by suso · · Score: 5, Funny

      Whats next, rude phone calls? Or how about ringing the door bell and then running away?

      Heh, that would be kinda funny actually. Like in one of those made for TV movies, could you imagine someone calling some female CEO of company X in the middle of the night and saying in a dark voice:

      Dark voice: "We know where you got your source code, so you better put it back."
      Female CEO: "Who is this?"
      Dark voice: *pauses*
      Female CEO: "Who is this? You better stop calling me"
      Dark voice: *click*
      Child: "What's wrong mommy?"
      Female CEO: "Its ok honey, go back to sleep."

      --
      suso.org website/email hosting, no disk space quotas and personalized support.

    2. Re:Ooohhh.. Leters! by dr_dank · · Score: 2, Funny

      Remember kids, read before you post!

      Ahhh, I remember being a young slashdotter once...

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
  2. Apropriate action by JamesP · · Score: 4, Funny

    It'll be good to see GPL violators being held responsible. We can start with CherryOS.

    Paraphrasing:

    Violators will be shot
    Survivors will be shot again

    --
    how long until /. fixes commenting on Chrome?
    1. Re:Apropriate action by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 5, Funny
      Violators will be shot
      Survivors will be shot again

      Missing the last line: "Unless you've got really big boobs."

    2. Re:Apropriate action by mattyrobinson69 · · Score: 4, Funny

      That was obviously implied.

    3. Re:Apropriate action by Crayon+Kid · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not if they're manboobs.

      --
      i ate crayons when i was a kid and now i have two braincells and the blue ones taste nicer
  3. Later that same day by jaymzter · · Score: 5, Funny

    GPLviolations.org was served with a patent infringement suit from the BSA

    --
    If thou see a fair woman pay court to her, for thus thou wilt obtain love
    1. Re:Later that same day by big_gibbon · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm UK based, so had to google for BSA

      It took a good couple of seconds to work out that the Boy Scouts Association of America was unlikely to have armed marshalls . . .

      P

    2. Re:Later that same day by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 3, Funny

      Only in wartime.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  4. Perhaps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    They could tell the Motorola people that their fathers were hamsters, and their mothers smelled of elderberries?

    Then fart in their general direction?

  5. What do the GPL thugs look like? by British · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let me guess.

    1.2-300 pounds
    2.black duster or trenchcoat
    3.t-shirt with either Star Wars or some free 4.computer-related shirt acquired from a trade show
    5.big beard. Mandatory
    5.telltale fedora
    6.2 cellphones on belt pocket. One might be a Treo.
    7.Lifetime membership to RenFair

    You don't want to mess with these guys. :)

    1. Re:What do the GPL thugs look like? by hsmith · · Score: 4, Funny

      They run up to the booth yelling "lightning bolt lightning bolt lightning bolt lightning bolt lightning bolt"

    2. Re:What do the GPL thugs look like? by pete-classic · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you weren't a poser you would have said "magic missle".

      -Peter

    3. Re:What do the GPL thugs look like? by DeathFlame · · Score: 5, Funny

      I belive thats really only good for attacking "the darkness"

    4. Re:What do the GPL thugs look like? by The+Darkness · · Score: 5, Funny
      I belive thats really only good for attacking "the darkness"

      What did I ever do to you?

      --
      There are two kinds of people: 1) those that need closure
    5. Re:What do the GPL thugs look like? by The+Lightness · · Score: 2, Funny

      What did I ever do to you?

      You never let me hang out with you.

  6. Re:GPL too restrictive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Well, if you WERE a developer, you could get off your duff & do something about it, eh? There are these "little-known" BSD operating systems under your "less-restrictive" licenses. Check them out sometime when you're done with the C in 21 Days book.

  7. I'm just waiting... by Deep+Fried+Geekboy · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... for him to serve one to SCO.

    --

    I'm not wrong. You haven't thought about it hard enough.

  8. Re:Wait by mvizos · · Score: 4, Funny

    Whoa Whoa Whoa...You know you're on slashdot, right? And yet you expect people wait to read an article before commenting? WTF. Again, I state, this is slashdot. People don't read. The ones that DO read DON'T comprehend. It's just pretty characters on the screen.

  9. Heard on CNBC by the+Howard+Dean+Camp · · Score: 0, Funny

    Iomega stock tanking...rumor on the street is that nberardi might sign a petition against them.

    1. Re:Heard on CNBC by nberardi · · Score: 2, Funny

      No they aren't they are releasing the code for each release. They just aren't releasing the beta releases. They have got the okay from the OSS councel or what ever the governing body of GPL is.

  10. Re:"Seem to" by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Funny

    "For all we know, this could be a scare tactic by MS to worry people back to their side of the fence."

    I wouldn't rule out Romulan involvement...

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  11. bring in the DRUMS!! by ek-1000-ek · · Score: 2, Funny
    "Authorities in the city of Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh state are sending drummers around to create a noise outside homes until evaders cough up."

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4340497.stm

    --
    where did my sig go? where's my sig at?
  12. Re:RTFA by Reziac · · Score: 3, Funny

    This *reader* of the article concluded that there were 25 cases of "Oh, sorry, let's fix it", two cases of "Who's gonna make me?" and one case of "Fuck you".

    --
    ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  13. Re:Four Questions by Frank+T.+Lofaro+Jr. · · Score: 3, Funny

    "I'm not writing buggy code, I'm adding tracking technology to detect theft of the intellectual property!" :)

    I'll keep that one in mind next time I write something that breaks. :)

    --
    Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!