Re: CS00003271 - Please review your case update - (Assigned)
Heh, for those who might be wondering about this, I assume this is in
response to an email I send broadcom yesterday. I've quoted it here:
From: Andres Salomon <dilinger@debian.org>
To: nic_technology_support@broadcom.com
Subject: more firmware licensing issues
Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 15:31:53 -0400
Hi,
Somewhat related to CS00003271, we (Debian) are trying to clear up the
licensing on Linux's acenic driver. This driver was originally written
by Jes Sorensen for Alteon, for the Tigon 1 nic chipset. The firmware
file, acenic_firmware.h, does not contain any licensing information.
I've spoken with Jes; he claims that he was given permission to
distribute the code _with_ a GPL'd driver, but does not know what the
distribution restrictions on the firmware itself are (and apparently has
lost the contract between Alteon and CERN, his former employer).
Alteon sold the rights to their NIC design to Nortel years ago; Nortel
then sold off some rights to 3Com and/or Broadcom, and 3Com possibly
sold off some of these rights to Broadcom as well. So, I'm trying to
track down who actually owns the rights to this firmware, and what the
licensing is for the firmware.
If I should be contacting 3Com or some other company instead, please let
me know.
On Thu, 12 May 2005 12:55:38 -0700, NIC Technology Support wrote:
> Below is a response to your case number CS00003271 submitted to Broadcom
> NIC Technology Support.
>
> Case Title: GPLed driver and binary-only firmware blobs.
>
> Response from Broadcom: I am truly sorry, I pinged our legal team again
> on the subject last monday and again today. No words from them yet.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Broadcom NIC Technology Support Team
>
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