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GNU is Not Unix Open Source

Ask Slashdot: How Best To Deal With a GPLv2 License Infringement? 240

cultiv8 writes "I am a developer and released some code at one point under GPLv2. It's nothing huge — a small Drupal module that integrates a Drupal e-commerce system (i.e. Ubercart) with multiple Authorize.net accounts — but very useful for non-profits. Earlier today I discovered that a Drupal user was selling the module from their website for $49 and claiming it was their custom-made module. I'm no lawyer, but my perspective is this violates both the spirit and law of GPLv2, most specifically clause 2-b: 'You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.' Am I correct in my understanding of GPLv2? Do I have any recourse, and should I do anything about this? I don't care about money, I just don't want someone selling stuff that I released for free. How do most developers/organizations deal with licensing infringements of this type?"
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Ask Slashdot: How Best To Deal With a GPLv2 License Infringement?

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  • ddos (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 25, 2011 @12:45AM (#38486554)

    posting on slashdot is like a DDOS for their site.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 25, 2011 @12:46AM (#38486558)

    You can buy a scale Predator drone for less than $1000 and a basic AI package for it for maybe half that. A few flybys and maybe a leaflet drop should be sufficient.

  • Re:ddos (Score:4, Funny)

    by davester666 ( 731373 ) on Sunday December 25, 2011 @01:41AM (#38486760) Journal

    Kill them! We MUST KILL THEM!

    Oh, wait. No, we do that for a GPLv3 infringement.

    For GPLv2, we just send them a nasty email and egg their mother's house.

  • by InterestingFella ( 2537066 ) on Sunday December 25, 2011 @06:15AM (#38487436)

    Did the guy mention that he copyrighted his work? If he put it out there with nothing indicating that, there's an argument that he put it into the public domain, but if he copyrighted the project in a README file or in the core code files, he's covered. If someone is violating the GPL license and selling a modified version of his work, I'd recommend he contact the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who can help defend him, most likely free of charge.

    Short answer: Selling GPLed software (even software you did not personally author) is okay.

    Jesus... It's amazing what crap a first poster can say. No, you can not sell GPLed software you didn't write, though you may charge a distribution fee, and you must provide a way to access the source code you're distributing. If some a-hole is charging $50-ish bucks for your software, take him down.

    You sir just won the award for Slashdot's 2011 Posts With Highest Percentage of Factually Incorrect Statements. Congratulations!

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday December 25, 2011 @10:32AM (#38488008)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

Any circuit design must contain at least one part which is obsolete, two parts which are unobtainable, and three parts which are still under development.

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