Open Source Litigation Over “BusyBox”

The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) and a software developer have sued 14 major consumer electronics companies for copyright infringement. The complaint alleges the electronics companies infringed the copyright in ”BusyBox” — a software program that combines computing tools and optimizes them for cell phones, PDAs, and other devices. The software is covered by one of the most widely used open source licenses – the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2).  Under GPLv2, anyone is allowed to use or modify a covered program for free, provided they distribute, or offer to distribute, the source code or modified source code to their customers. The defendants are using the BusyBox software to support Blu-ray Disc Players, cameras, HD TVs, routers, security systems, and other devices.  (Not all BusyBox rights holders agree with the lawsuit.) Read more »