The Software Freedom Conservancy and Erik Anderson, the developer of Busybox, filed the suit against Westinghouse Digital Electronics and 13 others over the distribution of the Busybox utility in HDTV products.

The US district court in the southern district of New York fined Westinghouse $US90,000 and ordered the company to stop shipping Busybox.

According to the judgement, the plaintiffs had informed Westinghouse on September 2 last year about the infringement. No notice was taken and Westinghouse continued to distribute Busybox.

After answering the complaint and complying with initial disclosures, Westinghouse ceased to meet its discovery obligations, the judgement said.

Due to this, on June 3, the plaintiffs moved for a default judgement or summary judgement against Westinghouse which was granted on August 3.

The company has undergone an assignment for the benefit of creditors - an alternative to bankruptcy under California law - and hence the plaintiffs will have to join the list of creditors who are entitled to claims.

Acting on the plaintiffs' request, the court also ordered that all products which have been already loaded with Busybox should be handed over to them for donation to charity.