> Simply put, GPL does not allow you to request "source code" for what you never used.
Sort of. The relevant section is:
> 3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
> a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
> b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
If the company elects to go with option b, then yes - the GPL does allow you to request "source code" for what you never used.
If they have not done a) or b) then I guess he cannot request b) because they have not done the written offer, at which point it is up to the copyright owner to require that they do a) or b) or what?
Provide damages of some sort, stop distributing program?
In principle, maybe, but in practice, it's very hard to imagine that you would have any standing to bring a suit as a third party.
If you and I sign a contract whereby you agree to pay 5$ to any stranger who calls you some name, I very much doubt a stranger who does so and doesn't receive their dollars would have any right to sue you. Of course, I could sue you for failing to perform the agreed contract.
The idea that the GPL is also a contract is being tested in California. So far the federal court (which hears copyright cases) agreed to send the case back to state court (which hears contract cases).
It's still a contract between the copyright holder and the redistributor, not between the redistributor and anyone in the world.
It's also not a contract between the distributor and the person receiving a copy from them, since contracts can't be automatically assigned to pieces of property, they must happen between people.
I very much doubt the SFC's case will succeed. I fully expect that they will be found not to have any standing to sue as someone who is in no way a party of the GPL. By the way, it's obvious that it wouldn't be tried by a copyright court, as the SFC claims no copyright over the code in question. I expect that the lower court will now confirm that they have no standing under contract law either, and the case will be dismissed.
Note that I fully support the idea of a right to repair. I just don't think it can be achieved in this way, and believe instead it must be enshrined in legislation and state regulations, not crafty uses of copyright law.
Sure, in this case Conservancy aren't a party to the GPL contract, but as a recipient of GPLed binary code from Vizio they are a third-party beneficiary of the contract between Vizio and copyright holders.
Actually Conservancy also are representatives of copyright holders in Linux and other software used on Vizio devices. So if they lose the third-party beneficiary suit, there will be a copyright angle they can pursue as well.
GPL lawsuits aren't about hardware repair, they are about software repair and the rights given to end-users by the GPL license/contract. You don't need source code to replace broken components on a tractor, you need repairer/vendor software that performs pairing of DRM-locked parts.
Sort of. The relevant section is:
> 3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
> a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
> b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
If the company elects to go with option b, then yes - the GPL does allow you to request "source code" for what you never used.