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Skype Gives Up Anti-GPL Appeal

Posted by kdawson on from the green-enveloope dept.

l2718 writes "Yesterday we discussed Skype's appeal of a German court's ruling against them regarding a violation of the GPL. Harald Welte (the plaintiff) now reports in his blog that following oral argument, Skype decided to drop the appeal and accept the lower court ruling in Weite's favor. More details and analysis at Groklaw. Congratulations to Mr. Welte and GPL-violations.org!"

8 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. As Groklaw says... by Dekortage · · Score: 5, Informative

    "To all those who don't like the license: you don't have to use it. Just write your own code. But if you want to use GPL code, the license comes with it. It's a package deal. Thanks."

    (which has been oft-said on /.)

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    1. Re:As Groklaw says... by William+Robinson · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Absolutely

      Also,

      If a publisher wants to publish a book of an author that wants his book only to be published in a green envelope, then that might seem odd to you, but still you will have to do it as long as you want to publish the book and have no other agreement in place.

      It is freedom, in a way, that binds you with some responsibility. And how difficult it is for many people to understand.

      One does have freedom to choose not to drive on roads. But when you choose to drive on roads, there is binding of following certain traffic rules, for the benefit of all. And one must understand the logic behind those bindings.

      Go...Penguin ...Go...

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      hilarious
  2. What is the Software? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What GPL'd software did Skype use and how was it discovered that Skype was using it?

    1. Re:What is the Software? by jimmypw · · Score: 5, Informative

      They took the open moko device and rebranded it as their own which was fair and legal. What they didnt do was make the source code available for those modifications which is required under section 3 of the GPL. They then packeged their item with a link to the source code but that didnt meet the terms of the license as only people with an internet connection can access it (its a skype device so wouldnt they have an internet conenction to A. Order one and B. Use it) They then claimed the GPL license violated anti-trust yesterday before giving up today.

      As for how it was discovered i'm not sure. Im guessing that as they complied with the rest of the agreement they left the copyright notice in.

      Glorious day

  3. Two thoughts on this by stirz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This ist the first time, a foreign firm loses in a German court in a GPL-related case. Furthermore, the judge pointed out that it is not sufficient to offer the related sources only on the internet and mention this in a rather general way in the product manual.

    Go Harald :-)

    Regards

    Stirz

  4. Re:Regarding the summary... by stirz · · Score: 5, Informative

    He's called Harald Welte .

  5. Re:Important lesson: by Rhapsody+Scarlet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Shouldn't that be "don't fuck with the GNU"? I mean, I know people are hesitant to refer to the Free Software Foundation and use the term "open source" more often than "free software", but not referencing the GNU Project when talking about the GNU General Public License is pretty ridiculous. The penguin may have helped spread free software and all, but this isn't his fight.

  6. Re:And thanks to skype too, by R2.0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Skype is owned by Ebay; prickdom is pretty much a given.

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