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<h3 id="">Q: Who is the defendant in this lawsuit?</h3>

<p>The defendant is Vizio, Inc., a U.S.-based TV maker and media company that has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange since March 2021.</p>

<h3 id="">Q: What did Vizio do wrong?</h3>

<p>The lawsuit alleges that Vizio’s TV products, built on its SmartCast system, contain software that Vizio unfairly appropriated from a community of developers who intended consumers to have very specific rights to modify, improve, share, and reinstall modified versions of the software.</p>

<h3 id="">Q: So, Vizio didn’t create SmartCast?</h3>

<p>It appears from extensive research that the core components of SmartCast were not created by Vizio, but rather, are based on various components licensed to the public under free and open-source software (FOSS) licenses. Most notably, many of the programs that are part of the SmartCast system are licensed under the GPL.</p>

<h3 id="">Q: What is copyleft?</h3>

<p>Copyleft is a term used to describe a license that uses the rights granted under copyright—not to restrict usage, but instead to ensure that the software is always shared freely.</p>

<h3 id="">Q: What is FOSS? </h3>

<p>“FOSS” stands for free and open-source software that allows for software freedom. “Software freedom” means the freedom of a user to run, study, (re)distribute, and (re)install (modified) versions of a piece of software. More generally, it is the idea that we are entitled to rights when using software and there should be equal protections for privacy and redistribution. The rights should treat everyone equally: big businesses and individual consumers and users alike.</p>

<h3 id="">Q: I thought FOSS allowed companies to simply take software from the commons and put it into their products whenever they wanted? Isn’t that the whole point of FOSS—for companies to get components for their products and lower their cost of production?</h3>

<p>While that is the main advantage that big corporations get from FOSS, it was never the primary impetus behind FOSS. Particularly through special licensing terms like the GPL, this licensing approach creates an egalitarian community of users, developers, and consumers. When functioning correctly, each individual and organization that participates in FOSS stands on equal footing with everyone else. Licenses like the GPL have rules to assure everyone's rights in that ecosystem are treated with equal respect and reverence. This is why compliance with these rules is important and we must stand up against companies who refuse to comply. </p>

<h3 id="">Q: Are the court documents released? Does that relate to why the litigation was brought in the U.S.?</h3>

<p>Software Freedom Conservancy brought this litigation within the U.S. specifically because litigation in this country is completely public. Historically, Germany has been one of the most popular venues for GPL litigation but it also has a huge downside: the German legal system keeps all details of the cases private and there is little transparency. </p>

<h3 id="">Q: Who is funding this lawsuit? </h3>

<p>This lawsuit is central to the mission of Software Freedom Conservancy. The organization has received grants from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to support GPL compliance work. As a nonprofit, charitable donations are also an important source of funding to carry out the work. This combined financial support allowed for this litigation to begin. However, continued donor support will be vital since litigation like this is quite expensive.</p>

<h3 id="">Q: How can someone make a donation?</h3>

<p>To make a tax-deductible donation to Software Freedom Conservancy, go to sfconservancy.org/donate. The best way to support this important work is to join as an official Sustainer. Details on that program are available at sfconservancy.org/sustainer. </p>

<h3 id="">Q: Why must you file a lawsuit? Isn’t there any other way to convince Vizio to comply with the GPL? </h3>

<p>Vizio has a long history of violating copyleft. The company has also stopped replying to inquiries from Software Freedom Conservancy. Vizio has been benefiting from the use of an abundance of existing copylefted software, but completely ignores the responsibilities that come with using the licenses. Furthermore, Vizio has already been subject to a large class-action suit that alleged that Vizio was misusing its customers’ private information (Vizio settled that class action for $17 million).</p>

<h3 id="">Q: What GPL code has been discovered in Vizio’s SmartCast? </h3>

<p>SmartCast is a Linux-based operating system. That means that not only do multiple copies of the Linux kernel appear in the firmware, other GPL'd and LGPL'd programs were found, including U-Boot, bash, gawk, tar, glibc, and ffmpeg.</p>

<h3 id="">Q: How can I verify Software Freedom Conservancy’s technical findings above? </h3>

<p>Object code can be found on the TVs and source code/binaries on the filesystem. There are multiple models in which we can confirm the findings. Go to sfconservancy.org/vizio for details.</p>

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