Preventing the IoT Dystopia with Copyleft

Explore the critical issues surrounding Internet of Things (IoT) devices and their relationship with Linux and the GNU General Public License (GPLv2) in this 47-minute conference talk from linux.conf.au. Delve into the political, social, and legal implications of widespread GPL violations in the IoT industry. Examine how manufacturers maintain control over IoT devices, despite using Linux as their base operating system, and the resulting security, privacy, and software freedom concerns. Learn about the history of GPL enforcement, its role in defending hobbyist modifications to home devices, and the importance of community-led GPL compliance efforts. Discover strategies to prevent Linux, a major open-source success, from becoming part of a corporate-controlled IoT dystopia. Gain insights into the ongoing struggle to uphold users' rights to modify and upgrade software in the rapidly expanding world of interconnected devices.