BusyBox Settles GPL Lawsuit
Backed by the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), open source utilities provider BusyBox had filed suit against City of Industry, Calif.-based networking vendor Xterasys, charging it with violating licenses of the Unix/Linux utilities it offers. BusyBox's utilities are governed by the open source General Public License (GPL).
The settlement, revealed Tuesday, includes a fiscal penalty of undisclosed severity and, significantly, an agreement by Xterasys to appoint an internal open source compliance officer.
The required installment of an open source compliance officer suggests perhaps this will become a more widespread and perhaps voluntarily implemented decision by CIOs, particularly if open source solutions continue to proliferate.
The open source compliance officer will be responsible for notifying previous Xterasys customers of their rights to the software, and will also ensure compliance with GPL regulations. Xterasys also agreed to halt distribution of BusyBox utilities until the SFLC confirms source codes are published.
The Xterasys settlement follows the Dec. 7 announcement that SFLC and BusyBox principal developers Erik Andersen and Rob Landley were filing a lawsuit against Verizon, alleging that FiOS, Verizon's fiber-optic Internet and television service, uses BusyBox utilities in its FiOS wireless routers. Under the terms of the GPL, the BusyBox source code must be made available to customers who purchase the router.
Some Web reports suggest the SFLC's success with GPL litigation may have Verizon Communications rethinking its strategy, though Verizon spokesman David Fish said simply: "This matter is being dealt with. We've referred it to the responsible third-party vendor."
BusyBox settled a similar lawsuit, filed against Monsoon Multimedia, in late October. It was the first GPL infringement lawsuit ever filed. A similar GPL suit against wireless communications hardware manufacturer High-Gain Antennas is pending.