Apple dumps GPL apps from its Appstore

Developers are squaring up for a clash between Apple's Terms of Service (TOS) and the Free Software Foundation's GPL license which is the basis for most open source (free, gratis and libre) software.

First casuality has been the popular VLC media player, which has been dumped by over-zealous Apple executives unwilling to amend the TOS to allow for freedom.

It appears the  General Public License (GPL) clashes with the Apple App Store’s Terms of Service (ToS).  Rémi Denis-Courmont, a Linux developer and the popular VLC media player,  announced this week that Apple had pulled the popular GPLed VLC media player from its App Store.

Denis-Courmont wrote, “On January 7th, Apple removed VLC media player from its application store for iDevices. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved – the hard way. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone, given the precedents.”

Denis-Courmont  pointed out that Apple’s ToS conflicted with VLC’s GPLv2 licensing on October 25th when he sent a formal notification of “copyright infringement"  to Apple Inc. regarding distribution of the VLC media player for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

VLC media player is free software licensed solely under the terms of the open source GNU General Public License (a.k.a. GPL). Those terms are contradicted by the products usage rules of the AppStore through which Apple delivers applications to users of its mobile devices.

In a note to the VLC membership list, Brett Smith, FSF Licensing Compliance Engineer, wrote that because “Apple ‘only’ allows you to do the activities in the list of Usage Rules, if an activity does not appear in this list, you’re not allowed to do it at all.”

Section 6 of GPLv2 says: Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients’ exercise of the rights granted herein.When the App Store terms prohibit commercial use, general distribution, and modification, these are exactly the kinds of “further restrictions” that are not allowed thanks to the last sentence here. This is a crucial part of the GPL’s copyleft.

THANKS ZDnet

Canonical fighting patent fire with fire.

Canonical, the sponsor company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux OS  have become the first member to sign up to the Open Invention Network's new associate membership program. According to OSnews, The Open Invention Network exists to acquire patents and license them royalty free to entities which, in turn, "agree not to assert their own patents against Linux or Linux-related applications." Current well-known companies involved with the OIN include Sony, IBM and Novell.

Not sure what to think about this very un-GPL move, but there's bound to be a lot of conversation in the ensuing days as the community gets to grip with reality. In a patent war, its sue or be sued.

Perhaps, Canonical should rather be putting more efforts to bolster the work of the Free Software Foundation, since this really just acts to legitimise  patent law as far as computer software is concerned. Then again, you probably know the ham sandwhich was patented by the Earl of Sandwhich, and you owe somebody a lot of money for school lunches, don't you?

My one dollar contribution to FSF

It's the principle that matters. And if we can get our banking system to work, then we can make a lot more of a contribution in the future. So, my apologies for the inevitable bank charge but this is a dry run. My first contribution to the FSF -- DRL

Dear David Robert Lewis,

Thank you very much for your donation of $1.00, made on 2009-07-03.

We have successfully processed the payment. No goods or services were received in return for this donation.

The Free Software Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization, so your contribution is tax deductible in the
USA. Our Tax ID is 042-888-848.

Thank you for your support! If you have any questions about this
transaction, please contact us at .

Sincerely,

Deborah Nicholson
Membership Coordinator

Free Software Foundation Phone: (617)542-5942
51 Franklin Street, 5th Fl. Fax: (617)542-2652
Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA http://my.fsf.org