Sothink Violated the FlashGot GPL and Stole Code 312
ShineTheLight sends in news of two Firefox plug-ins: FlashGot, the original, and Sothink, the GPL-violating come-lately. "People at Sothink decided to violate the GPL by stealing a piece of core code from FlashGot and using it without even the decency of covering their tracks. It is an exact copy of a previous version of FlashGot. This deception came to light when users reported to the FlashGot support forum that their software was not working right. Some digging led to the discovery that the older module that Sothink stole and used verbatim was overriding the more recent engine on the machines of those who had both installed and it was causing the issue. It has been reported to AMO and the FlashGot developer is aware of it. The Sothink people have completely ignored and been silent on the subject. This is why most good programmers will stop contributing to the global community because there are those who will steal their work, pass it off as their own, never acknowledge or give credit, and then shamefully stick their head in the sand and ignore the consequences." The three most recent reviews of Sothink point out this plug-in's dishonest nature. A number of earlier, one-line, 5-star reviews — expressed in a similar style — sound suspiciously like astroturfing.
Re:Proof of that Statement? (Score:5, Funny)
This is why most good programmers will stop contributing to the global community because there are those who will steal their work, pass it off as their own, never acknowledge or give credit, and then shamefully stick their head in the sand and ignore the consequences."
THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.
Re:Wrong crowd for this (Score:2, Funny)
No, wait. If it's a copyright violation, doesn't that mean it's a copyleft... um... anti-violation?
And if a copyright violation and a copyleft violation collide, do you get mutual annihilation and a burst of BSD particles?
You know, now that I think about it, that would explain what happens in most debates about the GPL...
Fine them (Score:5, Funny)
$80,000 per line.