The human rights organization Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) has filed a lawsuit against Vizio for failing to comply with the requirements of the GPL license when distributing firmware for smart TVs based on the SmartCast platform. The case is notable because it is the first lawsuit in history filed not on behalf of the development participant who owns the property rights to the code, but by a consumer who was not provided with the source code of the components distributed under the GPL license.
When using copyleft-licensed code in its products, the manufacturer, in order to maintain the freedom of the software, is obliged to provide the source code, including the code for derivative works and installation instructions. Without such actions, the user loses control over the software and cannot independently correct errors, add new features or remove unnecessary functionality. You may need to make changes to protect your privacy, fix problems in-house that the manufacturer refuses to fix, and extend the life cycle of a device after it is no longer officially supported or artificially obsolete to encourage the purchase of a new model.
Initially, the SFC organization tried to reach an agreement peacefully, but actions through persuasion and information did not justify themselves and a situation arose in the Internet device industry with a general disregard for the requirements of the GPL. To get out of this situation and form a precedent, it was decided to use more stringent legal measures to bring violators to justice and organize a show trial of one of the worst violators.
The lawsuit does not seek monetary compensation, the SFC only asks the court to oblige the company to comply with the terms of the GPL in its products and to inform consumers about the rights that copyleft licenses provide. If the violations are corrected, all requirements are met, and an undertaking to comply with the GPL is provided in the future, the SFC is prepared to conclude the legal proceedings immediately.
Vizio was initially notified of the GPL violation in August 2018. For about a year, attempts were made to resolve the conflict diplomatically, but in January 2020, the company completely pulled out of the negotiations and stopped responding to letters from SFC representatives. In July 2021, the support cycle for a TV model was completed, in the firmware of which violations were identified, but SFC representatives discovered that the SFC recommendations were not taken into account and newer device models also violate the terms of the GPL.
In particular, Vizio products do not provide the ability for the user to request the source code of GPL components of firmware based on the Linux kernel and a typical system environment in which GPL packages such as U-Boot, Bash, gawk, GNU tar, glibc, FFmpeg, Bluez, BusyBox, Coreutils, glib, dnsmasq, DirectFB, libgcrypt and systemd. In addition, the information materials do not contain any mention of the use of software under copyleft licenses and the rights granted by these licenses.
In Vizio's case, compliance with the GPL is especially important given past cases in which the company was accused of violating privacy and sending personal information about users from devices, including information about the movies and TV shows they watched.
Source: opennet.ru