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Verizon Being Sued for GPL Infringement
darthcamaro writes "According to the SFLC, Verizon can be added to the list of companies infringing on the GPL. They filed a lawsuit in New York yesterday (pdf) alleging that the company is handing out routers using the GPL'd software 'BusyBox' without accompanying source code. Today the SFLC spoke to the media to lay out its case: 'The legal action against Verizon come as the fourth action that the SFLC has undertaken this year on behalf of BusyBox on GPL issues. The GPL is a reciprocal license that requires users of GPL-protected technology to make their source code available to end-users. To date, the SFLC has settled with one defendant out of court. Two actions, facing Xterasys Corporation and High-Gain Antennas, are ongoing and Ravicher said he's optimistic about negotiations resulting in a resolution with each.'"
Microsoft got busted for that in 2005 when they attempted to sue some guy named Zamos.
Here is more about the first sale doctrine as well as the Zamos case.
Something to note is that Ebay has some weird policies concerning software. And your right to sale doesn't necessarily mean to sell on Ebay. But if anything other then some Ebay policy, MS stopped you because you didn't sell the thing in it's entirety, Box manual and all just as you purchased it(you admitted to not having it anymore). It is more likely an Ebay policy and you could have taken it somewhere else and sold it just fine.