Tivo worried about GPL v3

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

In its annual report filed with the SEC in April, DVR pioneer TiVo said that, "If the currently proposed version of GPLv3 is widely adopted, we may be unable to incorporate future enhancements to the GNU/Linux operating system into our software, which could adversely affect our business."

TiVo's concerns revolve around a provision in the final draft of the GNU General Public License Version 3 (GPLv3) that targets the DVR maker.

The Free Software Foundation (FSF), which maintains the GPL licenses, is attempting to address the issue of "tivoization" of code covered by the GPL.

The problem arises from the fact that code in TiVo's popular DVRs performs signature checks in hardware to prevent anyone from modifying the device's software and therefore its operation. Most device makers do not want customers to modify the operation of their devices, due to concerns over quality control, customer support, or legal liabilities.

Since a fundamental principle of the GPL is the right to read, modify, and re-use GPL'd code, such code-locking techniques fly in the face of the GPL's intent. Hence, the FSF has designed anti-tivoization language and included it in the final draft of the GPLv3.

Fortunately for TiVo, however, Linux founder Linus Torvalds currently sees little to recommend the controversial GPLv3 license for the Linux kernel, and does not consider TiVo's code locking to be a problem. In an exchange on the Linux kernel mailing list (LKML), the Linux originator called GPLv2, the license that currently governs the Linux kernel and much other Linux-related software, "simply the better license," .


The complete text of Tivo's Form 10K filing can be found here.