Source:
https://www.techworld.com.au/article/270748/cisco_sued_copyright_infringeme…
*Cisco sued for copyright infringement*
Linda Leung (Network World)
<https://www.techworld.com.au/author/2087087128/linda_leung/articles>
12/12/2008 10:10:00
*Tags:* Free Software Foundation
<https://www.techworld.com.au/tag/Free%20Software%20Foundation>, Cisco
<https://www.techworld.com.au/tag/Cisco>
Have your say!
<https://www.techworld.com.au/article/270748/cisco_sued_copyright_infringeme…>0
<https://www.techworld.com.au/article/270748/cisco_sued_copyright_infringeme…>
The Free Software Foundation Thursday slapped Cisco with a lawsuit
claiming copyright infringement related to Cisco's Linksys wireless
routers.
The FSF alleges that "in the course of distributing various products
under the Linksys brand, Cisco has violated the licenses of many
programs on which the FSF holds copyright, including GCC, binutils, and
the GNU C Library". Cisco has denied its users their right to share and
modify the software as a result, the FSF adds.
FSF Licensing Compliance Engineer Brett Smith writing in his blog said
the FSF in 2003 learned that the Linksys WRT54G wireless router used a
GNU/Linux system in its firmware, "but customers weren't receiving all
the source code they were entitled to under our licenses".
Smith adds that the FSF began working with Cisco in 2003 to help the
company establish a process for complying with FSF's software licenses.
It also emerged that other Cisco products were not in full compliance
either, according to Smith, who described the FSF's five-year effort to
get Cisco compliant as a "running game of Whack-a-Mole."
Cisco has refused to "notify customers about previous violations and
inform them about how they can now obtain complete source code," Smith
claims. "The FSF has put in too many hours helping the company fix the
numerous mistakes it's made over the years. Cisco needs to take
responsibility for its own license compliance," he adds.
The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District
of New York by the Software Freedom Law Center, which is providing
representation to the FSF in this case. A copy of the complaint
<http://www.fsf.org/licensing/complaint-2008-12-11.pdf> is available on
the FSF Web site.
In a statement, Cisco says: "*Cisco is a strong supporter of open source
software*. Cisco takes its open source software obligations and
responsibilities seriously and is disappointed that a suit has been
filed by the Free Software Foundation related to our work with them in
our Linksys Division. We are currently reviewing the issues raised in
the suit, but believe we are substantially in compliance. We have always
worked very closely with the FSF and hope to reach a resolution
agreeable to the company and the foundation."
--
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--
Brent Frère
Private e-mail: Brent(a)BFrere.net
Postal address: 58, rue d'Esch
L-3720 Rumelange
Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
European Union
Phone: +352-20.20.22.69
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URL: http://BFrere.net
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