gpl-violations.org is a not-for-profit project founded and led by Harald Welte in 2004.[citation needed] It works to make sure software licensed under the GNU General Public License is not used in ways prohibited by the license.
The gpl-violations.org project was founded in 2004 by Harald Welte. Welte was a kernel developer who had been actively enforcing the GPL license on his netfilter/iptables code since late 2003. Since then, other developers have given gpl-violations.org legal right to represent them. While the Software Freedom Conservancy's GPL Compliance Project for Linux Developers, operates from the USA, gpl-violations.org operates from Germany,[3] Welte's home country. Armijn Hemel has been a notable contributor since 2005.[4]
The project has been credited with being the first to prove in court that the GPL is valid and that it will stand up in court.
From January till October, 2015, the website was offline and no longer resolved. It planned to continue its activities in 2016.[5] Its activities resumed by November 2015.
Notable victories
Fortinet
In 2005, the gpl-violations.org project uncovered evidence that Fortinet had used GPL code in its products against the terms of the license, and used cryptographic tools to conceal the violation. The violation was alleged to have occurred in the FortiOS system, which the gpl-violations.org project said contained elements of the Linux kernel. In response, a Munich court granted a temporary injunction against the company, preventing it from selling products until they were in compliance with the necessary license terms;[6] Fortinet was forced to make their FortiOS available free in compliance with GPL licensing.[7]
D-Link
On September 6, 2006, the gpl-violations.org project prevailed in court litigation against D-Link Germany GmbH regarding D-Link's alleged inappropriate and copyright infringing use of parts of the Linux kernel.[8] The judgement[9][10] finally provided the on-record, legal precedent that the GPL is valid and that it will stand up in German courts.
violations, profit, project, founded, harald, welte, 2004, citation, needed, works, make, sure, software, licensed, under, general, public, license, used, ways, prohibited, license, type, sitecopyright, violation, information, siteavailable, inenglishcreated, . gpl violations org is a not for profit project founded and led by Harald Welte in 2004 citation needed It works to make sure software licensed under the GNU General Public License is not used in ways prohibited by the license gpl violations orgType of siteCopyright violation information siteAvailable inEnglishCreated byHarald WelteURLgpl violations wbr orgCommercialnoLaunched2004 Contents 1 Goals 2 History 3 Notable victories 3 1 Fortinet 3 2 D Link 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksGoals EditThe goals of the project are according to its website to Raise public awareness of the infringing use of free software and thus putting pressure on the infringers Give users who detect or assume GPL licensed software is being misused a way to report them to the copyright holders Assist copyright holders in any action against GPL infringing organizations and to Distribute information on how a commercial entity using GPL licensed software in their products can comply with the license 1 In May 2008 gpl violations org and the Free Software Foundation Europe Freedom Task Force announced that they were to deepen their previous cooperation citation needed The FSFE Freedom Task Force will be focusing on educating and informing while gpl violations org will focus on enforcing the GPL 2 History EditThe gpl violations org project was founded in 2004 by Harald Welte Welte was a kernel developer who had been actively enforcing the GPL license on his netfilter iptables code since late 2003 Since then other developers have given gpl violations org legal right to represent them While the Software Freedom Conservancy s GPL Compliance Project for Linux Developers operates from the USA gpl violations org operates from Germany 3 Welte s home country Armijn Hemel has been a notable contributor since 2005 4 The project has been credited with being the first to prove in court that the GPL is valid and that it will stand up in court Project creator Harald Welte received the 2007 FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software partly because of his work on gpl violations org From January till October 2015 the website was offline and no longer resolved It planned to continue its activities in 2016 5 Its activities resumed by November 2015 Notable victories EditFortinet Edit In 2005 the gpl violations org project uncovered evidence that Fortinet had used GPL code in its products against the terms of the license and used cryptographic tools to conceal the violation The violation was alleged to have occurred in the FortiOS system which the gpl violations org project said contained elements of the Linux kernel In response a Munich court granted a temporary injunction against the company preventing it from selling products until they were in compliance with the necessary license terms 6 Fortinet was forced to make their FortiOS available free in compliance with GPL licensing 7 D Link Edit On September 6 2006 the gpl violations org project prevailed in court litigation against D Link Germany GmbH regarding D Link s alleged inappropriate and copyright infringing use of parts of the Linux kernel 8 The judgement 9 10 finally provided the on record legal precedent that the GPL is valid and that it will stand up in German courts See also EditHarald Welte Software Freedom Conservancy Free Software Foundation Europe Commercial use of free softwareReferences Edit About the GPL Violations org Project Archived 2011 08 13 at the Wayback Machine GPL Violations org and FSFE s Freedom Task Force to work more closely together Archived 2008 06 05 at the Wayback Machine Contact gpl violations org Retrieved May 8 2016 Armijn Hemel LinkedIn gpl violations org homepage recovers gpl violations org November 7 2015 GPL Violations org project was granted a preliminary injunction against Fortinet UK Ltd Archived 2014 10 31 at the Wayback Machine Fortinet GPL Sources Archived 2007 04 26 at the Wayback Machine GPL Violations org project prevails in court case on GPL violation by D Link Archived 2014 10 07 at the Wayback Machine German version of the D Link court judgement PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2012 03 18 Retrieved 2014 09 06 Unofficial English translation of the D Link court judgementExternal links EditOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gpl violations org amp oldid 1106029261, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
