On Thursday, BusyBox, through the Software Freedom Law Center ("SFLC") filed a new lawsuit to enforce the General Public License ("GPL"). The lawsuit claims that Verizon used BusyBox software in one of its routers without complying with the GPL. This lawsuit is the fourth filed by the SFLC in the last two months and confirms that the trend that I mentioned in my earlier post http://lawandlifesiliconvalley.blogspot.com/2007/11/software-freedom-law-center-files.html. SFLC appears to be taking a much more aggressive approach by filing lawsuits within weeks of the original demand letter. In this case, SFLC states that they gave notice to Verizon on November 16 and filed suit on December 5. The allegations in this suit are similar to the earlier complaints. However, this lawsuit is the first against a company of substantial size.
Companies should review their use of BusyBox software which is the basis for these claims and should be prepared to respond quickly to demand letters from the SFLC.
