[FFmpeg-devel] Big companies taking advantage of ffmpeg developers

[Piero Bugoni]

In a slightly different vein, These People:

http://www.mp4converter.net

were mentioned back in March, about violating LGPL.

I tried to track them down, as was suggested in the thread, but their website,
and domain info give no usable contact info. (Other than e-mail address, and
registrar).

Without some kind of physical address, or an actual person to contact, (or
sue), it is hard to get anything done about them. (This is probably why they
are hiding out).

As for the current case, if a License is in place, and someone is violating
that license by distributing (or selling) a product, In America that gives you
some recourse. 

The easiest way is to contact the company (if possible), and set them straight.
If they refuse to honor the license, the next step is to contact their lawyers.
(A good lawyer will usually advise a company to honor the license). 

If a normal and reasonable request to honor the license fails, one can always
try to sue. One does not have to sue for money. One can sue for change. Asking
a Court to order a company to honor the license is a perfectly reasonable legal
request, and I believe the Courts in America would grant such an order.

There are many good reasons to do this, (beyond the financial ones):

1) It will serve to strengthen the Open-Source movement.
2) Overall software quality improvement.
3) The "Right Thing To Do."
4) New Law:



       
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