Sony's Pitard?

If a post on this web site is correct, then Sony may have some copyright problems of its own. This site claims that portions of the rootkit code Sony distributed on some of its CDs contains code that is licensed under the LGPL (the Lesser GNU Public License). The code allegedly comes from LAME (Lame Ain't an MP3 Encoder), an Open Source MP3 encoder.

This quote sums up the problems Sony may have under the LGPL, if the Web site's claims are valid:

"According to [the LGPL] license Sony must comply with a couple of demands. Amongst others, they have to indicate in a copyright notice that they make use of the software. The company must also deliver the source code to the open-source libraries or otherwise make these available. And finally, they must deliver or otherwise make available the in between form between source code and executable code, the so called objectfiles, with which others can make comparable software."

Anyone want to start a pool with guesses on how long it takes for someone to sue Sony under the terms of the Lesser GNU Public License? I'm thinking of the suits in Germany earlier this year....

By the way, you can read the LGPL here on the GNU Web site.

[I read it first on BoingBoing]