OSLiNK GPL violation

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OSLiNK GPL violation

OSLiNK Sp. z o.o.
ul. Jana Pawła II 6c
89-604 Chojnice
Poland

Phone:+48 52 396 25 00 and +48 52 395 12 75
Fax: +48 52 396 25 01

Sales E-mail:sales@osbridge.com <mailto:sales@osbridge.com>
Skype:osbridge_sales <callto:osbridge_sales> 

Support E-mail:support@osbridge.com <mailto:support@osbridge.com>
Skype: osbridge_support <callto:osbridge_support>

Repair service E-mail: service@osbridge.com <mailto:service@osbridge.com>

produces a WLAN bridge called OSBRiDGE 5GXi.

Clemens HOPFER from FunkFeuer found that the firmware versions 3.39, 3.50, 3.52, 3.54 and [4.01R], as binary downloadable from their website contain busybox, rrd-tools and the linux kernel.

Firmware version 4.01R

The firmware 4.01R contains the following versions of busybox and the linux kernel:

busybox version

# busybox
BusyBox v1.01 (2008.04.14-09:29+0000) multi-call binary

Usage: busybox [function] [arguments]...
or: [function] [arguments]...

BusyBox is a multi-call binary that combines many common Unix
utilities into a single executable. Most people will create a
link to busybox for each function they wish to use and BusyBox
will act like whatever it was invoked as!

Currently defined functions:
[, ash, basename, bunzip2, busybox, bzcat, cat, chmod, cp, cut,
date, df, echo, expr, getty, grep, head, ifconfig, init, insmod,
ip, kill, killall, linuxrc, logger, ls, lsmod, mkdir, mount, ping,
printf, ps, rdate, reboot, rm, rmmod, route, sh, sleep, syslogd,
tail, test, touch, tr, traceroute, udhcpc, uname, uptime, vconfig,
wget

#

linux kernel version

# uname -a
Linux OSBRiDGE 2.6.22.4 #134 Tue Apr 15 21:44:17 CEST 2008 mips unknown

rrd-tools

The Firmware contains rrd-tools as you can see in the screen shot from the web interface of the OSBRiDGE 5GXi (look at the right border of the graphs - there you can still see the rrd-tools text)

Screen shot of the OSBRiDGE web interface with rrd-tools graphs

GPL Violations

  • The source code to build the firmware is not available as download.
  • No copyright notice about GPL anywhere on their website.
  • The source code is not available if you ask for it (see email

conversation below).

support@osbridge.com denied to deliver the source code

Forwarded conversation
Subject: *Is the source code to build the firmware for the Osbridge 5GXi 
available?*
------------------------

From: *Dieter Hofrichter* <dieter.hofrichter@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 3:34 PM
To: support@osbridge.com

Dear OSBRiDGE support,
is the source code to build the firmware for the Osbridge 5GXi available?
Where can I download it?
Best regards
Dieter
----------

From: *Leszek Olszewski* <leszek.olszewski@osbridge.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 9:09 PM
To: Dieter Hofrichter <dieter.hofrichter@gmail.com>

Hello, 

We do not provide source code for the firmware.

Regards,
Leszek Olszewski
OSLiNK Sp. z o.o.

further e-mail conversation with OSLiNK

Leszek Olszewski wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Yes, we are still waiting for an advice from our legal counsel regarding this situation.
>
> As soon as we get a positive opinion from our legal counsel then we'll post the required parts of   the firmware that is licensed under GPL on our web site (that is Linux Kernel, Busybox and others, if there are any).
>
> Regards,
> Leszek Olszewski
> OSLiNK Sp. z o.o.
>
> Dieter Hofrichter wrote:
>> Dear Mr. Olszewski,
>>
>> three weeks passed by and I have heard no news about where I can download the sourcecode for the OSBRiDGE 5GXi.
>> Is there any progress?
>> Are there any doubts on your side that the firmware contains software with the GPL license and the resulting consequences?
>> Why is there still no possibility to download the sourcecode?
>> Why do you not mention that the firmware of the OSBRiDGE 5GXi contains software with GPL license on your webpage?
>>
>> Best regards from Vienna
>> Dieter
>>
>> Dieter Hofrichter wrote:
>>> Dear Mr. Olszewski,
>>>
>>> thank you for your fast reply.
>>>
>>> If you want to verify, that your! devices use code under GPL license you have several  possibilities:
>>> - Ask your software provider for access to the shell and execute the commands I wrote below ("uname - a" and/or "busybox")
>>> - go to the webinterface of an OSBRiDGE 5GXi, login as admin and look at the network graphs on  the bottom of the page. You will find on the right edge "RRDTOOL / TOBI OETIKER" -> and on http://oss.oetiker.ch/rrdtool/license.en.html you can find the license of rrd-tools.
>>>
>>> Thank you again for your cooperation. We are looking forward to see the sourcecode of the OSBRiDGE 5GXi soon on your web site.
>>>
>>> Best regards from Vienna
>>> Dieter Hofrichter
>>>
>>> Leszek Olszewski wrote:
>>>> Hello,
>>>>
>>>> Thank You for the notification. We actually use a 3rd party company to provide the software for us and as a rule that software should not contain any code under GPL license if we are not notified about that fact upfront. We have not been notified about that in this case. If you could provide me information on how we can verify this fact ourselves then that'd be really great.
>>>>
>>>> In any way, we'll seek our legal counsel advice on this situation and if there's no word against it, we'll get all relevant source code released and posted on our web site within next couple of days in order to fully comply with the license terms.
>>>>
>>>> Once again, Thank You for the notification.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Leszek Olszewski
>>>> OSLiNK Sp. z o.o.
>>>>
>>>> Dieter Hofrichter wrote:
>>>>> OSLiNK Sp. z o.o.
>>>>> ul. Jana Paw�a II 6c
>>>>> 89-604 Chojnice
>>>>> Poland
>>>>>
>>>>> Phone:+48 52 396 25 00 and +48 52 395 12 75
>>>>> Fax: +48 52 396 25 01
>>>>>
>>>>> Sales E-mail:sales@osbridge.com <mailto:sales@osbridge.com>
>>>>> Skype:osbridge_sales <callto:osbridge_sales>
>>>>>
>>>>> Support E-mail:support@osbridge.com <mailto:support@osbridge.com>
>>>>> Skype: osbridge_support <callto:osbridge_support>
>>>>>
>>>>> Repair service E-mail: service@osbridge.com <mailto:service@osbridge.com>
>>>>>
>>>>> produces a WLAN bridge called OSBRiDGE 5GXi.
>>>>> The latest firmware version as of April 20th 2008 is version 4.01R, as binary downloadable from their webpage at http://www.osbridge.com/download/OSBRiDGE_5XLi_4.01R.zip
>>>>>
>>>>> This firmware contains busybox:
>>>>> # busybox
>>>>> BusyBox v1.01 (2008.04.14-09:29+0000) multi-call binary
>>>>>
>>>>> Usage: busybox [function] [arguments]...
>>>>> or: [function] [arguments]...
>>>>>
>>>>> BusyBox is a multi-call binary that combines many common Unix
>>>>> utilities into a single executable. Most people will create a
>>>>> link to busybox for each function they wish to use and BusyBox
>>>>> will act like whatever it was invoked as!
>>>>>
>>>>> Currently defined functions:
>>>>> [, ash, basename, bunzip2, busybox, bzcat, cat, chmod, cp, cut,
>>>>> date, df, echo, expr, getty, grep, head, ifconfig, init, insmod,
>>>>> ip, kill, killall, linuxrc, logger, ls, lsmod, mkdir, mount, ping,
>>>>> printf, ps, rdate, reboot, rm, rmmod, route, sh, sleep, syslogd,
>>>>> tail, test, touch, tr, traceroute, udhcpc, uname, uptime, vconfig,
>>>>> wget
>>>>>
>>>>> #
>>>>>
>>>>> and the linux kernel
>>>>>
>>>>> # uname -a
>>>>> Linux OSBRiDGE 2.6.22.4 #134 Tue Apr 15 21:44:17 CEST 2008 mips unknown
>>>>>
>>>>> but the source code to build the firmware is not available as download. I could not find any copyright notice about GPL anywhere on there webpage.
>>>>> I asked via email to support@osbride.com for the source code but got the answer, that the source code is not distributed (see attached email conversation).
>>>>>
>>>>> If you need any further information please don't hesitate to contact me.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best regards from Vienna
>>>>> Dieter
>>>>>
>>>>> Forwarded conversation
>>>>> Subject: *Is the source code to build the firmware for the Osbridge 5GXi available?*
>>>>> ------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> From: *Dieter Hofrichter* <dieter.hofrichter@gmail.com>
>>>>> Date: Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 3:34 PM
>>>>> To: support@osbridge.com
>>>>>
>>>>> Dear OSBRiDGE support,
>>>>> is the source code to build the firmware for the Osbridge 5GXi available?
>>>>> Where can I download it?
>>>>> Best regards
>>>>> Dieter
>>>>> ----------
>>>>> From: *Leszek Olszewski* <leszek.olszewski@osbridge.com>
>>>>> Date: Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 9:09 PM
>>>>> To: Dieter Hofrichter <dieter.hofrichter@gmail.com>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hello,
>>>>>
>>>>> We do not provide source code for the firmware.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>> Leszek Olszewski
>>>>> OSLiNK Sp. z o.o.
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