LXer: The Open Source Freeloader Phenomenon
 

Published at LXer:

After the filing of the Verizon / BusyBox suit, and after reading about any number of other, similar incidents where a company showed what could only be seen as flagrant disregard for the GPL, I had to ask myself: Why do people do this? Are companies really that naive about the GPL, or do they just think they can get away with anything? I've gone back and forth about this, and I've come to the conclusion that GPL violators, or "freeloaders," aren't all of one mind. There's more than one way for a given vendor to run afoul of the GPL, and I've tabulated three that seem to be the most common.

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