[GNU/FSF Press] FSF Settles Suit Against Cisco

[Brett Smith]

   [This press release is available on the web at
   <http://www.fsf.org/news/2009-05-cisco-settlement.html>.
   FSF Compliance Engineer Brett Smith has written about what we can
   learn from this settlement at
   <http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/2009-05-settlement>.]

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, May 20, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) and Cisco Systems, Inc. are pleased to
announce that they have reached a joint agreement.

Under the agreement, the FSF has agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against
Cisco.

Cisco has agreed to appoint a Free Software Director for Linksys, a
subsidiary of Cisco, to supervise Linksys' compliance with the
requirements of free software licenses such as the GPL (the GNU
General Public License). The Free Software Director will report
periodically to the FSF regarding Linksys' compliance efforts. Cisco
has further agreed to take certain steps to notify previous recipients
of Linksys products containing FSF programs of their rights under the
GPL and other applicable licenses, to publish a licensing notice on
the Linksys website, and to provide additional notices in a separate
publication. In addition, Cisco will continue to make the complete and
corresponding source code for versions of FSF programs used with
current Linksys products freely available on its website. Cisco will
also make a monetary contribution to the FSF.

The parties recognize Cisco's ongoing obligations under the GPL and
other free software licenses. The FSF will continue to independently
monitor Linksys' compliance with these licenses, and work with
Linksys to resolve any new issues that may arise.

"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."

### About the FSF

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Brett Smith  
Licensing Compliance Engineer  
Free Software Foundation  
+1 (617) 542 5942 x18  
<address@hidden>  

###