Monsoon Multimedia tries to avert GPL legal showdown

Consumer electronics maker Monsoon Multimedia said Monday it intends to comply with the terms of the General Public License version 2--used in Linux and countless other open-source programs--to try to settle a lawsuit filed last week.

The Software Freedom Law Center, which provides legal services to free and open-source software programmers, announced on Thursday a suit against Monsoon Multimedia. The lawsuit claims that Monsoon violates the terms of the GPL because it does not make the source code used in its Internet video device available.

Specifically, the company includes software from BusyBox in its product. BusyBox is a set of Unix utilities used in embedded systems and licensed under the GPL version 2.

On Monday, Monsoon Multimedia said that it will make the appropriate BusyBox source code publicly available on its Myhava Web site "in the coming weeks."

"Since we intend to and always intended to comply with all open-source software license requirements, we are confident that the matter will be quickly resolved," said Graham Radstone, CEO at Monsoon Multimedia.

The case had caught the attention of the software industry because such a lawsuit--if not settled--could test the enforceability of the GPL.