If he had a case, he wouldn't be giving interviews about it. He'd be suing them. And he'd be right to do so.
The fact that he's slinging accusations in print rather than using the legal system to settle a legal dispute suggests to me that he does not, in fact, have any evidence Wix is doing anything untoward beyond "this smells kinda fishy to me."
In cases like this, the court of public opinion can often be all that is necessary to resolve the issue and push the violator to do the right thing. This avoids costly litigation and makes things easier on both sides. If the violator chooses to ignore the public outcry, then certainly there is the legal path to follow next.
In a non-software example, if my neighbor intends to violate my property line with his new fence plans, I'll drop by, have a glass of lemonade with him, and discuss the issue. If we come to an agreement about the property line and can resolve the issue right there, that's the best outcome. If he insists on continuing to violate my rights even after we talked about it, only then would I seek legal recourse. To jump straight to court over it not only costs me and him a ton of money, it costs something more valuable: A fractured neighbor-to-neighbor relationship, ensuring that any future encounters will be hostile and costly.
Very frequently the goal of licensing with the GPL and challenging violators is not financial gain (or punishment) but to force the violators to comply with the license and release the offending code.
Going to court to force release of said code is a much more expensive stick that can be held over the offending party's head.
Automatically suing every time you think you have a case does not seem like a smart move. Suing someone turns a disagreement into a war. Starting out with a blog post and escalating from there seems like a much more diplomatic and sensible approach.
Comments
If he had a case, he wouldn't be giving interviews about it. He'd be suing them. And he'd be right to do so.
The fact that he's slinging accusations in print rather than using the legal system to settle a legal dispute suggests to me that he does not, in fact, have any evidence Wix is doing anything untoward beyond "this smells kinda fishy to me."
In cases like this, the court of public opinion can often be all that is necessary to resolve the issue and push the violator to do the right thing. This avoids costly litigation and makes things easier on both sides. If the violator chooses to ignore the public outcry, then certainly there is the legal path to follow next.
In a non-software example, if my neighbor intends to violate my property line with his new fence plans, I'll drop by, have a glass of lemonade with him, and discuss the issue. If we come to an agreement about the property line and can resolve the issue right there, that's the best outcome. If he insists on continuing to violate my rights even after we talked about it, only then would I seek legal recourse. To jump straight to court over it not only costs me and him a ton of money, it costs something more valuable: A fractured neighbor-to-neighbor relationship, ensuring that any future encounters will be hostile and costly.
Very frequently the goal of licensing with the GPL and challenging violators is not financial gain (or punishment) but to force the violators to comply with the license and release the offending code.
Going to court to force release of said code is a much more expensive stick that can be held over the offending party's head.
Automatically suing every time you think you have a case does not seem like a smart move. Suing someone turns a disagreement into a war. Starting out with a blog post and escalating from there seems like a much more diplomatic and sensible approach.