Free Software Foundation settles case with Cisco

The FSF originally sued Cisco in December after working to two years to try and reach a resolution after it found out that the code for Linksys routers used material covered by the GNU General Public License (GPL).

As part of the settlement Cisco will appoint a free software director for Linksys, who will ensure that GPL code is used properly and who will report back to the FSF on a regular basis with progress reports.

"We are glad that Cisco has affirmed its commitment to the free software community by implementing additional measures within its compliance program and dedicating appropriate resources to them, further reassuring the users' freedoms under the GPL," said Peter Brown, executive director of the FSF.

"Our agreement results in making all of the relevant source code available in the fastest way possible."

In addition to the appointment Cisco has committed to contacting customers of Linksys to inform them of the changes in their terms and conditions, to post up details of the free software used on its web site and to pay a settlement fee to the FSF.

In a separate blog posting the FSF said that it wasn’t undergoing such cases to make money or wreck businesses, merely to preserve the integrity of the GPL.