Can we honestly say that there is something with the GPL that requires enforcement? Eh, I’d say that depends on who you are asking…

As the Free Software Foundation (FSF) works toward finalizing the next version of the GNU General Public License (GPL), free software developers are still trying to make sure companies are complying with the current version of the GPL.

Violations of free software licenses are usually handled differently than violations of proprietary software licenses. Developers aren’t looking for money or to punish competitors, but simply to enforce compliance with a license that requires reciprocity. Though a few violations have been widely reported, many more are settled quietly.

Dan Ravicher, legal director of the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), says that most companies violating the GPL are “not doing so because they’re evil, but because they don’t know. The managers and businesspeople don’t know that’s in there.”

Part of the problem may stem from a faulty understanding of the GPL and other free software licenses, rather than a deliberate attempt to rip off free software developers. Corporate types understand licensing code for money, but the reciprocity requirements of the GPL and other free software licenses seem to confuse many corporate and proprietary software types…. Source: NewsForge

[tags]gpl,software developers,general public license[/tags]