Michigan Diagnostic Software Case Big Win for GPL
Pig Hogger writes "Many people claim that the validity of the GNU Public License has not been tested in court in the US. Well, it just had been, in Michigan, in a case that validated open-source car diagnostic software against the pretension of automakers who want to keep it secret. But don't take my word for it; read the story on GROKLAW." It's actually the Society of Automotive Engineers involved here; DrewTech (the developers in this case) nicely donated half of their settlement money to the SAE.
We have to wonder though - what will this do for the local enconomy? I'm in the Detroit metro area, and EVERYONE here has at least three people in their family that work for one of the big three. Of course it's not going to change daily life as we know it, it's not THAT big of a decision as cases go, but will we see a ripple effect?