Software Freedom Conservancy Wins GPL Case Against Westinghouse 225
fishthegeek writes "The Software Freedom Conservancy has received a judgement against Westinghouse Digital Electronics for $90,000 in damages, $50,000 in costs plus a donation of all of the offending HDTV's that were using BusyBox in violation of the GPL. Given that WDE is nearly bankrupt it's likely that most if not all of the cash will disappear in a legal 'poof,' but it is a victory regardless."
Nearly bankrupt? They made an assignment==busted! (Score:3, Interesting)
It helps explain all those crappy 37" Westinghouse TVs that were being blown out by retailers on the cheap last year.
It may be a win by default.... (Score:4, Interesting)
..but what matters is that a judge has issued a ruling on the matters before the court.
Its a common practise to start with little guys to get precedents and then work your way up to the bigger fish; the bad guys (eg, patent trolls) have been using this technique for ages, so its no biggie if the Good Guys learn from them,
Re:Not what it seems (Score:5, Interesting)
WDE? (Score:3, Interesting)
I had to RTFA to find out that WDE is Westinghouse Digital Electronics.
Westinghouse is currently in General Assignment, an alternative to bankruptcy under California state law
I don't get this at all. The US Constitution says bankruptcies are in Federal court and not a state matter. Is there a better FA somewhere?
How do they do it? (Score:3, Interesting)
I have always wondered how these GPL folks determine that a product contains GPLed code. How do they do it?
Having been around computers and electronic equipment for a while, I know that we users only receive a working piece of equipment and a manual probably. Now how one delves into getting to establish that GPLed code [or firmware] is contained withing the equipment troubles my mind.
How do they do it?
Re:donation of HDTVs? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't think so. This is a court order assigning ownership of this property, not an unsecured debt. I think that it will be considered senior to the claims of the other creditors in the same way that a lien is senior to unpaid bills.
Re:Nearly bankrupt? They made an assignment==buste (Score:3, Interesting)
And the 47" units that were discontinued within a year of them being sold, including no service/warranty parts being available.
I purchased a 47" 1080p Westy 3 years ago or so and was pretty happy with it, until it died 30 days before warranty expiration. (I also had a BB service plan due to making the calculation that this model with a so-so reliability rep plus the cost of the service plan was less than the cost of a model that had a good long-term reliability reputation.) It took almost a month for BB's service contractor to determine that it was not possible to obtain ANY service parts for this unit. End result is BB gave me a free upgrade to a brand new Sharp Aquos (Smaller screen but better contrast and MUCH better reputation, and at that point a lower MSRP than what I paid for the Westy.
Re:WDE? (Score:4, Interesting)
However, different state laws may impact how certain aspects of the bankruptcy, including what assets are protected, are handled.
Well obviously IANAL. I guess the next logical question is what happens when someone feels that the federal court has disrespected the state laws.
Re:How do they do it? (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't forget all the firmware that you can download without so much as a serial number.
And then there's all the photos of serial numbers on the internet, which can reduce the number of unchecked cases still further.
Don't think that there's not nerds out there with nothing better to do than to download firmware and run it through strings.
Re:How do they do it? (Score:1, Interesting)
Whether they are living in their parents basement or taking time out from the rest of their real life, these geeks are policing companies infringing on the free software world, while you are making fun of them on /. .
I see you read my comment, but the irony escaped you. You could have just said "I didn't see what you did there"
Wot a twat. (Score:1, Interesting)
GPL: You are free to copy this as long as you don't stop others. Good. Sharing is good.
RIAA: You are a priate!!!! You must pay us even if you aren't! Bad. Greed is bad. Unearned wealth is the root of all evil
MPAA: See above (RIAA)
Disney: Give me all your copyrighted works! You can't have MINE!!! (see Kimba the albino lion). Bad. Stealing and making money off that theft is bad.
Pixar: Disney again. Why double up TWICE?
Apple: You don't own the software, you only license it, we control it. Bad. Selling something and keeping ownership is fraud and that's bad.
Re:Confused (Score:3, Interesting)
And yet reciprocation forms the basis of all civilization. If we want to form a stable software society, it must be based on reciprocation; otherwise, we will maintain this current state of disjointed, warring software fiefdoms led by dictators indefinitely.
Panasonic. (Score:2, Interesting)