Possible eCos copyright infringement

Possible eCos copyright infringement

[Kirhan M]

http://www.rovingnetworks.com/

mentions on their site at


http://www.rovingnetworks.com/resources/download/46/Development_kit_selector_guide

their WiFly modules use eCos, however, they distribute them without the source code as required by the eCos license. In the same document, they request $2499 (possibly more as they specify that additional support must be purchased, available at $1000 per month) for access to their BIOS that contains eCos.

Re: Possible eCos copyright infringement

[Jonathan Larmour]

On 14/11/12 14:08, Kirhan M wrote:
> http://www.rovingnetworks.com/
> 
> mentions on their site at
> 
> 
> http://www.rovingnetworks.com/resources/download/46/Development_kit_selector_guide
>
>  their WiFly modules use eCos, however, they distribute them without the
> source code as required by the eCos license.

They don't strictly have to provide the source code, but then they must at
least provide a written offer to get the source code to anyone who receives
the product.

> In the same document, they
> request $2499 (possibly more as they specify that additional support must
> be purchased, available at $1000 per month) for access to their BIOS that
> contains eCos.

Have you explicitly asked them for a copy of the eCos source code? What did
they say?

Bearing in mind that the eCos license only applies to eCos sources themselves,
or any files derived from eCos sources, it's possible the license is to do
with their proprietary parts, not the eCos-derived parts.

Basically we need a bit more clarity about whether there really is any
infringement going on here. I'm not saying there isn't any infringement, but
it's not clear there is either, presumably hence you saying "possible" in the
subject :).

Jifl