Verizon sued over GPL code in FiOS routers

December 7th, 2007 by

Uh-oh, it looks like Verizon’s been too busy ramping up speeds on its FiOS network to mind a little thing called the GPL — the company has just been sued for using a GPL’d app called BusyBox in its FiOS routers but not providing the source code. BusyBox is a bundle of utilities used in embedded Linux applications, and the authors have been pretty vigilant in policing GPL-compliance in distributions that include it — they’ve sued two other companies that have shipped devices with BusyBox, and gotten settlements both times. We’re not sure what Verizon is doing with BusyBox on its routers or why it hasn’t released the source, but expect this one to reach a resolution rather quickly.

Disclaimer: Although this post was written by an attorney, it is not meant as legal advice or analysis and should not be taken as such.