i wonder if it would be worth speaking with the people from keyspan/etc. and explaining the problem to them? who knows - an appropriately worded message (or 10) would probably convince them to release it under a less restrictive license. the code itself isn't very useful is it? then again it's binary only, isn't it.
i'd be inclined to leave the kernel source alone as if it's ok for AC then it should be ok for us too. i don't think there's much risk in doing this as about the worst that is likely to happen is a take down order. having said that i'm all for filing it as a bug, but i'd give it a fairly low priority (non-critical/wishlist). if we make a habit of respecting such licenses to the letter (usb/dvd/etc.) then we're going to end up with one very boring/unfriendly O/S indeed. (yeah your device is supported but first you need to go download a few bytes of firmware from X, and recompile a module or the kernel itself). - samj -----Original Message----- From: Walter Landry [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, 24 April 2001 2:04 PM To: debian-legal@lists.debian.org Subject: Re: Copyright infringement in linux/drivers/usb/serial/keyspan*fw.h Adam J. Richter wrote: Linus's Linux kernel releases from 2.3.50 through the latest test release (2.4.4-pre6) contain GPL-incompatible "firmware" images for "EZUSB" devices in linux/drivers/usb/serial/keyspan*fw.h, which are #included into drivers which contain GPL'ed code, even when compiled as modules. The specific licenses that Adam is talking about are /* * keyspan_pda_fw.h * * Generated from keyspan_pda.s by ezusb_convert.pl * This file is presumed to be under the same copyright as the source file * from which it was derived. */ and then a number of licenses that look like /* keyspan_usa18x_fw.h Generated from Keyspan firmware image Wed Jul 5 09:18:29 2000 EST This firmware is for the Keyspan USA-18X Serial Adaptor "The firmware contained herein as keyspan_usa18x_fw.h is Copyright (C) 1999-2000 Keyspan, A division of InnoSys Incorporated ("Keyspan"), as an unpublished work. This notice does not imply unrestricted or public access to this firmware which is a trade secret of Keyspan, and which may not be reproduced, used, sold or transferred to any third party without Keyspan's prior written consent. All Rights Reserved. This firmware may not be modified and may only be used with the Keyspan USA-18X Serial Adapter. Distribution and/or Modification of the keyspan.c driver which includes this firmware, in whole or in part, requires the inclusion of this statement." */ I got these straight from kernel-source-2.4.3_2.4.3.orig.tar.gz. The first one is, at least, unclear. The second one, on the other hand, is a clearly non-free license. Neither Debian nor it's mirrors have permission to distribute it at all. This is separate from whether it is DFSG compliant or GPL-compatible or not. This also means that Debian can't even distribute the original source tar-ball. Debian has no permission at all. If no one complains, I'll file bugs against kernel-source-2.4.0 kernel-source-2.4.1 kernel-source-2.4.2 kernel-source-2.4.3 kernel-image-2.4.2-386 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.2-586 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.2-586tsc 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.2-686 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.2-686-smp 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.2-k6 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.2-k7 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.2-pentium4 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.2-pentiumiii 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.2-pentiumiii-smp 2.4.2-1 kernel-image-2.4.3-386 2.4.3-2 kernel-image-2.4.3-586 2.4.3-2 kernel-image-2.4.3-586tsc 2.4.3-2 kernel-image-2.4.3-686 2.4.3-2 kernel-image-2.4.3-686-smp 2.4.3-2 kernel-image-2.4.3-k6 2.4.3-2 kernel-image-2.4.3-k7 2.4.3-2 kernel-image-2.4.3-pentium4 2.4.3-2 kernel-image-2.4.3-pentiumiii 2.4.3-1 kernel-image-2.4.3-pentiumiii-smp 2.4.3-1 (Yes, we do have too many kernel images) Regards, Walter Landry [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
