Security specialist Fortinet has agreed to provide some source code available, following allegations that it infringed on the GPL, the company Tuesday.
Earlier this month, will gpl-violations.org founder Harald Welte an injunction against Fortinet, banning companies that distribute their products to them with the terms of the GPL. The GPL or GNU General Public License is used by developers for the products they want to remain freely available under license to other programmers in accordance with the ideals of free software movement.
Welte claimed that Fortinet had not only abused the code under GPL, but it also tries to hide the use of GPL code by using cryptographic techniques.
Fortinet has decided to send the source code of Linux kernel under GPL and other components to provide any interested party. The code is available upon request for the cost of distribution, from the Fortinet website. The company also agreed to amend its license to the GPL with all Fortinet include shipments. The settlement agreement also stipulates that no Fortinet partners are subject to prosecution.
This is the latest in a series of victories for the GPL-violations.org project. Since the project began in 2004, Welte has negotiated more than 30 off-court settlements.