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I doubt nvidia would have complied with their demands anyway, but the new demand "make all your code open source or else we'll release it ourselves" gives them

I doubt nvidia would have complied with their demands anyway, but the new demand "make all your code open source or else we'll release it ourselves" gives them absolutely no incentive to comply at all. If the choices are you can have your source out there but unlicensed so it's illegal for anyone else to use it, or you can choose to legally let anyone else use your source -- why would nvidia ever choose the latter? The original version of the demand at least gave nvidia some business incentive to comply. I don't think they've thought through their demands very well.

krsrhe 5y ago
They want the driver code public but not the hardware code.
cornegidouille 5y ago
That's a good point, although they are threatening to release slightly more than just the drivers ("the complete silicon, graphics, and computer chipset files"). But the legal vs. illegal access is definitely interesting and probably not something they took into account. I don't see, say, AMD stealing from "publicly stolen" technology, I can't imagine the insane lawsuit that would ensue. Maybe some Chinese company might do it...
- flatiron 5y ago
  who would fab their chips though? i can only imagine tsmc getting an obvious nvidia knock off and refusing to fab it for them for fear nvidia would take their cards somewhere else to fab.
  - Handytinge 5y ago
    Your argument doesn't make sense. If TSMC are the only people who can fab them, why would they been concerned about Nvidia going elsewhere? If there is an elsewhere, that's where the chips can be fabricated.
- sasaf5 5y ago
  Think of all the security vulnerabilities and patent violations that would become apparent in case the Verilog is released too.
- charwalker 5y ago
  I don't think this group is thinking within the constraints of the law. There can be no trust in this, the data is out there and no longer in Nvidia's control. Even if they fully accept the terms, the group can still do what they want.
mullingitover 5y ago
> I don't think they've thought through their demands very well. If you, as a person with technical skills, aren't making money hand over fist with a normal job in the tech sector and instead are doing illegal things like this, it's very likely that there is something wrong with your judgment in general.
- octoberfranklin 5y ago
  And what about when you have enough money?
kobalsky 5y ago
unless my reading comprehension is failing me, they are threatening to release nvidia's hardware design files, not the driver source code.

krsrhe 5y ago

They want the driver code public but not the hardware code.

cornegidouille 5y ago

That's a good point, although they are threatening to release slightly more than just the drivers ("the complete silicon, graphics, and computer chipset files"). But the legal vs. illegal access is definitely interesting and probably not something they took into account. I don't see, say, AMD stealing from "publicly stolen" technology, I can't imagine the insane lawsuit that would ensue. Maybe some Chinese company might do it...

flatiron 5y ago
who would fab their chips though? i can only imagine tsmc getting an obvious nvidia knock off and refusing to fab it for them for fear nvidia would take their cards somewhere else to fab.
- Handytinge 5y ago
  Your argument doesn't make sense. If TSMC are the only people who can fab them, why would they been concerned about Nvidia going elsewhere? If there is an elsewhere, that's where the chips can be fabricated.
sasaf5 5y ago
Think of all the security vulnerabilities and patent violations that would become apparent in case the Verilog is released too.
charwalker 5y ago
I don't think this group is thinking within the constraints of the law. There can be no trust in this, the data is out there and no longer in Nvidia's control. Even if they fully accept the terms, the group can still do what they want.

mullingitover 5y ago

> I don't think they've thought through their demands very well. If you, as a person with technical skills, aren't making money hand over fist with a normal job in the tech sector and instead are doing illegal things like this, it's very likely that there is something wrong with your judgment in general.

octoberfranklin 5y ago
And what about when you have enough money?

kobalsky 5y ago

unless my reading comprehension is failing me, they are threatening to release nvidia's hardware design files, not the driver source code.