Sony being evil

[Roland]

OK, this rogue is confused.

How can one steal code from an open source project?  It's open source?

I am obviously missing a subtlety, a critical detail, and would like to be better informed.

Occhi
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Basically (there are about a thousand licenses to keep track of, but I'll briefly explain the two I mentioned):
GPL = Open Source software. Code is freely available (free as in beer; you can charge for it), but if you use it, not only must you include all copyright notices from the original code, but all the new code tied to it must be made Open Source as well. More restrictive license, generally not used in a commercial setting, but can be.

LGPL = Open Source software. Code freely available (same as above), provided you retain all copyright notices, etc. Useable with proprietary (i.e. non-OS) code, but you MUST retain all copyright notices, etc. with the new code showing you used OS code.

Sony failed to do EITHER of these requirements. Not only did they use GPLed code (from a dead project, but that doesn't matter), they also used LGPLed code, and neither retained copyright notices, etc. in plain view, nor made Open Source their own code.

So, technically, Sony and the partner(s) it contracted to write the whole thing could be facing a copyright infringement lawsuit, in addition to the class action and civil suits they are currently facing.

I have to admit, I'm glad Sony's getting hit as hard as they are. I hope they get nailed to the cross, as an example. This sort of BS cannot be tolerated, or computing as a whole will take a terrible downward turn, as well as consumerism as a whole. Scary thought to think that a VCR you buy 5 years from now could be a "limited use" VCR. I.e. create 30 tapes and then becomes nothing more than a big paperweight. And that's only PART of the problem. Scary.