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My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

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Re: My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

#21

Post by [deleted] »

jstanley wrote: post #11
teddyh wrote: post #6

> I then decided to contact Insulet to get the kernel source code for it, being GPLv2 licensed, they're obligated to provide it. This is technically not true. It is an oversimplification of the common case, but what actually normally should happen is that: 1. The GPL requires the company to send the user a written offer of source code. 2. The user uses this offer to request the source code from the company. 3. If the…

Are you saying that in the general case if you send someone a written offer for something and then don't honour it, you are in breach of contract? That doesn't sound right to me. A written offer is not the same thing as a contract.

[deleted]

Re: My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

#22

Post by jstanley »

teddyh wrote: post #17
jstanley wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that in the general case if you send someone a written offer for something and then don't honour it, you are in breach of contract? That doesn't sound right to me. A written offer is not the same thing as a contract.

Maybe it’s not technically “breach of contract”, and an offer might or might not be a contract. But if you don’t honor an offer you made, you must surely be guilty of something. Otherwise, all offers would be meaningless and worth nothing.

I don't think you're guilty of anything for failing to honour an offer in most cases.

Re: My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

#24

Post by abigail95 »

whatshisface wrote: post #7
anigbrowl wrote: post #5

As always, the solution is to contact their legal department, preferably via a lawyer. Engineers and support staff are not going to risk their jobs making legal decisions about giving away company property. The FSF could help a lot here by publishing demand letter templates outlining the statutory and precedential basis for license enforcement and recovery of damages.

It is not company property.

Derivative works are owned by those who create them. What copyright says you can do with them depends on the specifics, but the general case is true.

Re: My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

#25

Post by abigail95 »

I get mad triggered by software license violation discussions.

Please for the love of all that the FSF thinks is holy - just file a damn lawsuit if you are telling me they are violating the law. State your claim and have a court sort it out.

It costs hundreds of dollars. For a medical device? Seems like a good deal.

Re: My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

#26

Post by teddyh »

Aurornis wrote: post #10

Be sure to read the top comment where someone who claims to have worked for the company provides some inside information. In my experience, this is quite common when the development of hardware is viewed as a cost center and is outsourced to various providers and teams. Those providers and teams churn a lot and nobody who worked on that is likely still involved with the company via contracts or direct employment. Fro…

> 7 out 10 times, the person on the other end was angry because they assumed the GPL entitled them to all of our source code and they were disappointed when they only found GPL code in the tarball.

Well, if your non-GPL code was directly linked to, or closely interoperated with, any GPL code, those users would have been right.

Re: My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

#27

Post by fyhn »

Group_B wrote: post #8

Oh well. The whole thing has already been reverse engineered. Look up Loop or Trio or OpenAPS. Diabetic companies like Insulet have been very lax when it’s come to the hacking of their devices. This isn’t really that big a deal. What we need right now is help REing the Omnipod 5

Not all though, I've been looking at Minimed pump reverse engineering (which would be just reading glucose data, not controlling the pump), and that's not solved yet, at least not for the 780G. But I hope it will be, and perhaps I'll be able to contribute.

Re: My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

#28

Post by kkjjjjw »

jstanley wrote: post #22
teddyh wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it’s not technically “breach of contract”, and an offer might or might not be a contract. But if you don’t honor an offer you made, you must surely be guilty of something. Otherwise, all offers would be meaningless and worth nothing.

I don't think you're guilty of anything for failing to honour an offer in most cases.

Such offer is as legally binding as any tender. Of course a contract dispute could go either way.

Re: My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

#29

Post by jimrandomh »

If the only GPLed component used is the Linux kernel, you probably aren't entitled to any noteworthy source code. It's well established that using the kernel doesn't create a GPL requirement userspace software running on the same device, and the most likely arrangement here is a completely-uncustomized kernel paired with an open-source userspace program that does all the interesting bits.

Re: My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

#30

Post by lacoolj »

So can someone tell me - a non-insulin-dependent individual - why would an insulin pump need to be (controlled by?) a phone (in this case, the Nuu phone referenced)?

Surely there is a way to cheaply obtain bluetooth and a controller without saying "we'll just use this already existing hardware - that happens to be a whole-ass phone - because it's $5 from China"?

Kinda feels like that just screams data-stealing, regardless of where it was made.

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