Drone company DJI in active non-compliance of GPL (binaries released)

[3DR Solo User]

If you purchase a DJI Inspire2, DJI Spark, DJI Mavic or DJI Phantom4 series drone, please be aware there is GPL code inside:

https://github.com/MAVProxyUser/dji_system.bin/ 

 

Specifically Busybox, among others:

 

 

 

You should be entitled to both redistribution of the binaries in question, as well as the accompanying source code per GPL licensing rules.  

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html

Quote

 

“GPL gives a person permission to make & redistribute copies of the program if & when that person chooses to do so”
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#CanIDemandACopy
“You can charge people a fee to get a copy from you. You can't require people to pay you when they get a copy from someone else.”
“if someone pays your fee and gets a copy, the GPL gives them the freedom to release it to the public, with or without a fee”
“The GPL says that anyone who receives a copy from you has the right to redistribute copies, modified or not.”
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#DoesTheGPLAllowNDA
“If it depends on a nonfree library to run at all, it cannot be part of a free operating system such as GNU;”
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#FSWithNFLibs
“If they form a single combined program then the main program must be released under the GPL”
You cannot incorporate GPL-covered software in a proprietary system.”
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLInProprietarySystem
“you must make sure that the free and nonfree programs communicate at arms length”
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLInProprietarySystem
“Can I release a modified version of a GPL-covered program in binary form only?”
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#ModifiedJustBinary
“The exception for the case where you received a written offer for source code is quite limited.”
“must be open to everyone who has a copy”
“This is a well-meaning request, but this method of providing the source doesn't really do the job.”
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#DistributingSourceIsInconvenient
“As long as you make the source and binaries available so that the users can see what's available and take what they want”
“Complete corresponding source means the source that the binaries were made from”
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#MustSourceBuildToMatchExactHashOfBinary
“If the version has been released elsewhere, then the thief probably does have the right to make copies and redistribute them under the GPL”
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#TradeSecretRelease
“If a company distributes a copy to you and claims it is a trade secret, the company has violated the GPL” 
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#TradeSecretRelease

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Zando Bob]

What does that mean, and what is the GPL?

[3DR Solo User]

...

[Captain Chaos]

7 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

what is the GPL

GNU Public License, basically THE standard for free and open-source licensing.  DJI claims to follow that standard, but apparently they are violating it.

 

@3DR Solo User : needs more, see the guidelines.  Link to source article, quote from article, description explaining why this is relevant to us and a personal take. 

 

Quote

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Failure to comply may result in your thread being locked or removed without warning.

 

 

[3DR Solo User]

Just now, Captain Chaos said:

GNU Public License, basically THE standard for open-source.  DJI claims to follow that standard, but apparently they are violating it.

 

@3DR Solo User : needs more, see the guidelines.  Link to source article, quote from article, description explaining why this is relevant to us and a personal take. 

 

*I* am the source article... I am the one that found that they are violating GPL... I revealed this via Twitter, which I linked above. 

 

See second post above for info on WHY this matters... 

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html

[Captain Chaos]

2 minutes ago, 3DR Solo User said:

*I* am the source article.

hmm ... curious how the mods are going to handle this one then. 

[3DR Solo User]

Just now, Captain Chaos said:

hmm ... curious how the mods are going to handle this one then. 

I've been a pretty reputable source for a number of years FWIW

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/security-warning-draws-dmca-threat/

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/08/scada_exploit_released/

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/03/cop_car_hacking/

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8x9jv4/drone-pilots-are-buying-russian-software-to-hack-their-way-past-djis-no-fly-zones

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/3knkgn/dji-is-locking-down-its-drones-against-a-growing-army-of-diy-hackers

[Cheezdoodlez]

Yeah nope. Not able to see a word of your post. Also I think you really should put some more context in the OP. 

[3DR Solo User]

22 minutes ago, Cheezdoodlez said:

Yeah nope. Not able to see a word of your post. Also I think you really should put some more context in the OP. 

 

I have attempted to add more context for you... I am sorry your mobile was unable to render my post! 

[DutchTexan]

instead of attacking this guy... lets read the post. DJI is pretty dominate in the drone world, basically pioneered it for the masses, yeah? So, this is could be a big deal on a several levels IMO

[DutchTexan]

19 minutes ago, Cheezdoodlez said:

Yeah nope. Not able to see a word of your post. Also I think you really should put some more context in the OP. 

because you're one of the few, but vocal dark theme users

[rn8686]

10 minutes ago, 3DR Solo User said:

I have attempted to add more context for you... I am sorry your mobile was unable to render my post! 

He is referring to night mode on the forums, not a problem with his phone. Re-paste the text and remove formatting. 

[3DR Solo User]

4 minutes ago, DutchTexan said:

instead of attacking this guy... lets read the post. DJI is pretty dominate in the drone world, basically pioneered it for the masses, yeah? So, this is could be a big deal on a several levels IMO

I have updated the OP for the pedantic... (which I respect, as I too am pedantic)

 

*salute*

[spartaman64]

35 minutes ago, Captain Chaos said:

hmm ... curious how the mods are going to handle this one then. 

you need a source

nope i am the source 

[Cheezdoodlez]

16 minutes ago, DutchTexan said:

instead of attacking this guy... lets read the post. DJI is pretty dominate in the drone world, basically pioneered it for the masses, yeah? So, this is could be a big deal on a several levels IMO

He's updated the post now. When I first read it it was just a couple of Twitter-links. 

 

But yeah. This looks like it could be a big deal. But DJI is a big company, they'll probably get away with it.  

[tlink]

big if true