| Ah, if only. To the first point: the GPL is not used nearly as much as it should be. Thus there's still a strong selection bias on court cases in general being about the GPL, since the GPL is not selected very often. (And there's a reason it is avoided: legal counsel to large companies frequently describe the GPL as "untested." This happens still today, which is frankly ridiculous in the light of all that the Software Freedom Law Center, FSF, etc. have done) To the second point: any court proceeding introduces a huge amount of uncertainty. Costs are up-front, payback may come in a decade or more after all routes of appeal have been exhausted. Judgments are frequently overturned on technicalities; even if the technicalities are flawless the GPL is not unassailable. On a personal note, I am unequivocally in favor of using Free Software further and wider than it has been used. In every potential conflict of interest, I think there is much to be said for attempting to settle with a "GPL violator" using amicable means, even if it takes a long time. I view "GPL violations" as free advertising -- don't be shy about publishing the proceedings, though doing it with some taste may help the party come into compliance, their actions should speak for themselves! People use GPL software, extensively. Any use of GPL software is a compliment to the software authors. Any contribution back to the software will improve it for everyone. etc. |