Skype told to play the GPL game.

Last July Skype was convicted of failure to comply with the GPL v2 for it internet messaging service supplied on Linux devices. As part of the licensing requirements, vendors have to provide source code for Open Source products which Skype refused to do  with its WSKP100 phone.has abandoned its efforts to avoid complying with an open-source licence that requires it to provide source code with Linux-based VoIP phones. Skype had appealed saying that Germanys antitrust rules made the GPL invalid - nice try! Skype lost.

The appeal was dropped after German courts hinted that Skype would lose the case. The previous judgement has now been accepted by Skype. There was some hope that Skype could come to an agreement but Harald Welte, head of gpl-violations, is only interested in seeing GPL upheld - rightly so. The GPL is a license just like any other, proprietary or not, so there’s no dodging the terms. Skype thinks users don’t need access to the source code  but the company must abide by the licence requirements, the judges said.

And Welte is not backing down. He is determined that the agreement will follow the GPL v2 license to the letter. “We’re not interested in settling for anything less than full GPL compliance,” he said.

Message to the proprietary vendors.

It looks like the GPL will defended to the last. Can you blame them? Personally, I’m on the side of Welte. Look at it another way; what would Skype do if someone infringed their license? Enough said.

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