Monsoon Multimedia, which was subjected to the first US lawsuit on non-compliance with the GPL, has published a press release in which they agree to make any modifications public and thereby complying to the requirements stipulated in the GPL license. "Monsoon Multimedia today announced efforts to fully comply with the GPL. Monsoon is in settlement negotiations with BusyBox to resolve the matter and intends to fully comply with all open-source software license requirements. Monsoon will make modified BusyBox source code publicly available on the company web-site in the coming weeks."
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2006-05-26
They're using the same sort of relatively benign phrasing that most newscasts in the US use to refer to terrorists blowing themselves up with bombs in a crowd of people to murder them, calling them "suicide bombers" instead of what would more correctly signal their intent, "homicide bombers" because after all, the primary mission doesn't seem to be that of committing suicide, but that of killing infidels.
And let's face it, the licensing fights and development ideologies cause quite a few people to become zealots and fanatics to a similar degree as a lot of religions, with people doing things merely because they fit in with an ideology, and not so much because they're actually "good" in promoting desired outcomes.
I think these days many people are just too afraid to be politically-incorrect in their speech and writing, for fear of offending someone and perhaps getting sued. I'm not a pro-GPL zealot, and I'm not 100% against it, as it does have its place, but I can and will respect the rights of those that wish to use that licensing, and for that, I agree, it should be referred to as "piracy" of some sort.
Member since:2005-11-11
"Since we intend to and always intended to comply with all open source software license requirements, we are confident that the matter will be
quickly resolved ... "
If this is the case, how come it came to a lawsuit? Hopefully we can chalk their initial lack of response up to intercontinental communication issues, but why weren't they complying with the license in the first place? Oh well, this seems to be settling out amicably at least 
and in reply to the above,
"Homicide bomber" isn't a phrase I like at all. It's redundant. Bombing is about killing people. The thing that separates the stereotypical cafe-bombing terrorist's technique from that of someone in a bomber plane is that the terrorist is committing suicide.
Member since:2007-04-06
Uhm, do you see these horrible terrorists try to bomb Rio ? I mean, they are "infidels" are they not ? U _sure_ it's not US foreign politics ? hm, wonder..
Member since:2005-08-28
Perhaps because the intent here was to merely get them to comply with the GPL, not tar and feather them and drag their name through the mud?
The MPAA, RIAA, and BSA are fully in attack mode on these things; I suspect the SFLC has no problem with Monsoon Multimedia as long as they follow the rules. There's a difference between wanting compliance and wanting punishment.
Member since:
2005-07-06
If the MPAA, RIAA and BSA have taught us anything, it's the power of proper phrasing. Instead of "GPL non-compliance", might I suggest "corporate piracy"? "Intellectual property theft"? "Predatory distribution"?