Oh, wait - it's a legal statement from Samsung, concerning possible GPL/LGPL violation !!
Are they violating the GPL? Quite possibly. Here is why:
1. Many of the Samsung 2009 TVs software components were initially released under GPL/LGPL v3. Licence rights were explicitly granted in printed form (in the user manuals). But now Samsung is claiming they use GPL v2 and v2.1! Is unilateral revoking of previously granted additionall rights, covered in GPL v3, actuallly legal ? I dont think so..
2. What they did with recent firmware updates (basically preventing users from installing modified code) is IMO direct violation of GPL/LGP v3. Some excerpts from the licence:
In the preamble:
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Some devices are designed to deny users access to install or run modified versions of the software inside them, although the manufacturer can do so. This is fundamentally incompatible with the aim of protecting users' freedom to change the software. The systematic pattern of such abuse occurs in the area of products for individuals to use, which is precisely where it is most unacceptable. Therefore, we have designed this version of the GPL to prohibit the practice for those products. If such problems arise substantially in other domains, we stand ready to extend this provision to those domains in future versions of the GPL, as needed to protect the freedom of users.
In the "6. Conveying Non-Source Forms" section:
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A ?User Product? is either (1) a ?consumer product?, which means any tangible personal property which is normally used for personal, family, or household purposes, or (2) anything designed or sold for incorporation into a dwelling. In determining whether a product is a consumer product, doubtful cases shall be resolved in favor of coverage. For a particular product received by a particular user, ?normally used? refers to a typical or common use of that class of product, regardless of the status of the particular user or of the way in which the particular user actually uses, or expects or is expected to use, the product. A product is a consumer product regardless of whether the product has substantial commercial, industrial or non-consumer uses, unless such uses represent the only significant mode of use of the product.
?Installation Information? for a User Product means any methods, procedures, authorization keys, or other information required to install and execute modified versions of a covered work in that User Product from a modified version of its Corresponding Source. The information must suffice to ensure that the continued functioning of the modified object code is in no case prevented or interfered with solely because modification has been made.
If you convey an object code work under this section in, or with, or specifically for use in, a User Product, and the conveying occurs as part of a transaction in which the right of possession and use of the User Product is transferred to the recipient in perpetuity or for a fixed term (regardless of how the transaction is characterized), the Corresponding Source conveyed under this section must be accompanied by the Installation Information. But this requirement does not apply if neither you nor any third party retains the ability to install modified object code on the User Product (for example, the work has been installed in ROM).
The requirement to provide Installation Information does not include a requirement to continue to provide support service, warranty, or updates for a work that has been modified or installed by the recipient, or for the User Product in which it has been modified or installed. Access to a network may be denied when the modification itself materially and adversely affects the operation of the network or violates the rules and protocols for communication across the network.
Corresponding Source conveyed, and Installation Information provided, in accord with this section must be in a format that is publicly documented (and with an implementation available to the public in source code form), and must require no special password or key for unpacking, reading or copying.
So, (dear Samsung): where can I find this "Installation Information" required by the licence?
NOTE: I don't have legal degree, but this looks pretty straightforward.. Seems like recent Samsung actions may be actually illegal
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