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McAfee Worried Over "Ambiguous" Open Source Licenses

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the play-by-the-rules-and-no-one-gets-hurt dept.

willdavid writes to tell us InformationWeek is reporting that McAfee, in their annual report, has warned investors that "ambiguous" open source licenses "may result in unanticipated obligations regarding [McAfee] products." "McAfee said it's particularly troubling that the legality of terms included in the GNU/General Public License -- the most widely used open source license -- have yet to be tested in court. 'Use of GPL software could subject certain portions of our proprietary software to the GPL requirements, which may have adverse effects on our sales of the products incorporating any such software,' McAfee said in the report filed last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among other things, the GPL requires that manufacturers who in their products use software governed by the license distribute the software's source code to end users or customers. Some manufacturers have voiced concerns that the requirement could leave important security or copyright protection features in their products open to tampering."

4 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. As opposed to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    their EULA which has been rigorously tested time to time in International Court of Justice.

  2. boo hoo by SeaFox · · Score: 2, Funny

    'Use of GPL software could subject certain portions of our proprietary software to the GPL requirements, which may have adverse effects on our sales of the products incorporating any such software,' McAfee said in the report filed last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Translation: "We fucked up and didn't do our homework."
  3. Re:well... by snuf23 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Unless your favorite flavor of open source is BSD!

    Go Apple! :)

    --
    Sometimes my arms bend back.
  4. Re:I don't get it by smittyoneeach · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hmm. And where might dey win doze side deals?
    It's all so mysterious.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear