> But one of FSF's demands is silly and the other is kind of scary and I can understand why Cisco is kicking. The FSF's demands are a good deal more lenient th

> But one of FSF's demands is silly and the other is kind of scary and I can understand why Cisco is kicking. The FSF's demands are a good deal more lenient than what Microsoft's would be if you made illegal copies of their software. If Cisco are in breach of the GPL, they have committed copyright infringement, which is illegal. It's just as illegal (or ought to be) if the work they've infringed is published under a free software license or a non-free license. If Cisco didn't like the terms of the GPL, they were free not to use GPL'ed software. For a business to sell products containing GPL'd software without complying with the license is as bad as a business making counterfeit DVDs and selling them on street corners; in both cases it is serial copyright infringement for profit. (IANAL, but maybe the GPL could be changed so that users have the choice of complying with the usual terms or paying the FSF $1000 per copy; then any infringers would be liable for some multiple of that amount per infringing copy).