On Thu, 15 February 2007 00:40:31 -0800, v j wrote: > > Oh, I am sorry. Seems like the German courts have spoken. I am not > sure about what, but they have spoken. Sorry for the confusion.
In short, there seem to be two classes of closed-source drivers: 1. ATI and nVidia. Both are well-known, in both cases they seem to avoid the legally important aspect of shipping their driver along with a kernel and they seem to be legally in relatively safe water. At least I haven't heard about them getting sued yet. 2. The embedded companies. By the very nature of selling an embedded device they are shipping their drivers along with a kernel and seem to be in very shallow water. Dozens of them have received letters from lawyers and didn't even dare go to court - they just complied. While this list is not exhaustive and your company's case may be different from all others, it does give you a hint of what your chances might be in court. Go to http://gpl-violations.org/ and do your research. The question whether a specific closed-source driver is legal or not can only be answered in court and only on a case-by-case basis. You should have a good idea of what many developers personal opinion is and with the research you can also estimate your legal position. Then make your decision, as noone here is going to make it for you - even if some would like to. Jörn -- Eighty percent of success is showing up. -- Woody Allen - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
