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.
Proof of that Statement? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
[citation needed]
I really don't agree with that sentiment. I mean, there have been a few recent cases (BusyBox) where the company is making money off of it but I don't think SoThink is making a ton of cash off of their plugin. I am not defending SoThink in any way and hope that FlashGot takes action but instead of opting to sue SoThink, I hope he first tries to force them to open up their own tool under the GPL if it is tangled into his code or at least realease all the modifications they have done to his code. He could always turn it over to the EFF for help if he really wants to prosecute to the fullest extent. I doubt that lawsuits are going to help this situation or deter others. They'll just get more crafty about it if they feel the need to.
Re:Proof of that Statement? (Score:4, Insightful)
Dear lord. I was waiting for the story to post (seeing the un-commentable preview subscribers get) so I could quote that block and reply with the exact same "citation needed" cliche.
It's an opinion, but it's one that's hard to justify. My own opinion is that open source programmers contribute to a project because they want a program that does a thing they need done, and because they want it done "just so." Witness the history of forking on certain projects.
Re:Proof of that Statement? (Score:5, Insightful)
From my personal experience, most of the really good programmers that I know don't contribute to open source for one main reason:
They don't have the time to.
Speaking of Astroturfing (Score:5, Insightful)
If my code gets 'stolen', used without my permission, breaking the terms of the license; what difference does it make as to the license I chose to release it under.
Sigh (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not theft, it's copyright infringement and plagiarism. It's not theft when the RIAA are the victim, and it's not theft when programmers are the victim. Two completely different illegal actions. It's also not a number of other offences - it's not murder, it's not speeding, it's not jaywalking, and it's not theft. Different names for different offences. Get it?
Stop complaining, babies. (Score:5, Insightful)
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 not a bad thing. It's a good thing. It's a good thing that code can be borrowed from one program and used in another. Why re-invent the wheel after all? I thought that's why we wrote open source software - not to receive credit, but because we want to share our work with the world.
The crime here is not that one programmer "stole" the work of another. The crime is that one programmer took advantage of an open resource, but kept their modifications closed.
Wrong crowd for this (Score:5, Insightful)
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
It's not stealing, it's a copyright violation :P
Re:Oh Slashdot... (Score:4, Insightful)
You're obviously new here...
Piracy and GPL violations both hurt workers in the field of computing/entertainment/etc. However, there's a big difference between a random Joe copying an mp3 and a corporate entity stealing a product and re-marketing it as their own.
Yet we live in a society where surveillance is a double-edged sword. It's more favorable to our freedoms to let someone get away with copying a Miley Cyrus song rather than letting bureaucrats crush us and turn daily life into red-tape + TSA-like conditions.
Does this shift everything in favor of the little guys? Sure. Life isn't fair, but we hope to improve society (even if it's a slow process). Given the proclivity of human nature, it's FAR safer for smaller crimes to go unpunished than grant corporations overwhelming powers and let LARGE crimes go unpunished. Case in point: Recent housing & banking economic scandals.
Re:Oh Slashdot... (Score:4, Insightful)
I wonder what the copyright abolitionist would say when copyright is abolished and the GPL stops to be enforceable... Oh well.
If copyright were abolished, we would be free to copy and modify software without legal repercussions, so we wouldn't need to rely so much on the GPL. Of course, no modifying could be done unless programmers voluntarily published their source code. But in a theoretical world without copyright, there would be no reason not to publish your source code - because you wouldn't be able to profit off of software sales in a world where anyone could legally copy your program for free. It would be advantageous to publish the source code, to ensure quality and make bugs and security holes visible.
In short, if copyright were abolished, we would have no use for the GPL.
Underestimation (Score:5, Insightful)
That's rather a bold statement. It might even be true if there were no possible redress. But publicizing the wrongdoing and ousting the offenders is quite a powerful part of the community. Of course any similarly-wronged author, proprietary or open-source, also has the law on their side. Hardly an abject situation.
Re:And how is th different from the RIAA and MPAA (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:And how is th different from the RIAA and MPAA (Score:5, Insightful)
No, the perpetrators committed a crime much worse than theft -- plagiarism. Don't believe me? Go ask any tenured professor at your nearest university.
Steal something from a lab where you work, you'll probably lose your chance at tenure and the job. Commit plagiarism and you'd best start looking for a new career.
it's stealing (Score:4, Insightful)
You're right, it's not exactly the same as other forms of stealing. But the general term for this is stealing. Presumably this would be listed as another definition in a dictionary.
If you can steal someone's heart, if you can steal a kiss, if you can steal cable, if you can steal an identity, there's no reason this cannot be stealing also.
It has been this way a long time too, stealing cable started in the 70s.
Re:Oh Slashdot... (Score:3, Insightful)
If copyright were abolished, we would be free to copy and modify software without legal repercussions, so we wouldn't need to rely so much on the GPL.
That's a bit like saying that a person without arms wouldn't rely so much on gloves.
Re:Stop complaining, babies. (Score:3, Insightful)
Project A's code was licensed under the GPL. Project B used A's code in violation of the license (they didn't steal it). Make it known that project B is violating A's license and that project B's members have not responded on the matter. This public knowledge will harm project B's reputation, perhaps enough to motivate its members to acknowledge and come into compliance. Or it might motivate users to stop using project B and let it die off. But leave the name-calling for your inner circle of friends who will put up with that crap.
Re:Proof of that Statement? (Score:3, Insightful)
All right, I'll feed the troll.
"Good" is such a vague term. Good for whom? If you're talking about "good" for quality of software in general, then clearly, the open source coders win.
On the other hand, if you're talking about "good" in terms of business, when the executive hiring the programmer will cash out his options in less than a year and doesn't give a damn about long-term maintenance costs, then you're correct.
Now, let's suppose you're right, and that the "good for [short-term] business" coders can find work more easily, and presumably earn more money. Would that extra value be worth working for a soulless entity, not caring about the quality of your work, and reading about some bug hurting people? Would it be worth giving up on learning new ideas, or receiving meaningful peer feedback, or doing something for the first time ever?
Maybe for you, it's wroth it. Me, I'd rather do what I love.
Re:Oh Slashdot... (Score:5, Insightful)
In a world without copyright, all commercial software money would be made off support contracts. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it means the exact opposite of what you intend will happen in a lot of cases. Developers will clamp down as tight as they can on their source, protecting it as a trade secret. As long as they are the only ones with the source, they have a huge advantage in giving support. It is a hundred times easier to patch a bug, or add a requested feature, when you have the source. Currently you can make the source available if you so choose, without licensing it like the GPL. In fact, Microsoft does just that for Windows. If copyright ended today, do you think they would just shrug their shoulders and gpl everything? No, they would do everything in their power to consolidate as much knowledge of of Windows and it's source with them, so competitors can not quickly create their own windows distro (for lack of a better term) and claim a piece of the support contract pie.
Someone used my "free" software, kill them! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:it's stealing (Score:2, Insightful)
The GPL requires copyright notices and attributions to remain intact. Taking those out is in violation of the author's moral rights, and "stealing credit" for someone else's work. Also, donations, and ad revenue that may have been obtained, if the user downloaded FlashGot instead, are lost.
I believe the phrase for the second part is: "Unfair competition." The first part is commonly referred to "Theft of Intellectual property," which means you rip off someone else's ideas (or work) and present them as your own, which causes them to lose enjoyment and reputation from the popularity of the work, and you attain that instead (until the theft is discovered, at least).
The GPL license requires distributors of derivative works to make recipients aware of the GPL licensing, provide source code, and allow further modifications and redistribution without additional restiction (under the terms of the GPL).
Recipients' rights to the code are being stolen.
Re:Proof of that Statement? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Oh Slashdot... (Score:2, Insightful)
I think that if copyright were abolished, the sale of software would still continue, albeit in a more limited way, paticularly in the business world, even if everything were open-sourced.
Think of this: if you are an IT manager, are you going to trust the OS of all your production machines to some random Joe Schmo's distribution of "Free OS" downloaded from freebies.com? No way, you are still going to get it from a reputable source, and if you have to pay for it, all the better. The sale is in fact a sort of support contract in itself, because the exchange of funds for software thus gives you the right to go after the seller, if not legally, at least create bad press, if there is a failure.
A similar thing would happen with entertainment media. Even though I can get just about any movie in digital form off of Pirate Bay practically the day it is released, I will still pay money to see it in the theater. Why? Because of the experience, and because I know the picture and sound quality are going to meet certain standards (e.g. THX). Just like I will still go to a concert even if I have downloaded the album.
The physical design of many hardware devices, such as automobiles, is pretty much open-source, hence the existence of Chilton's service manuals and the like. But would I theoretically trust my life to a car built from open specs by Larry down the street? Again, no way.
Yes, among hackers (of all stripes), no one would pay for anything anymore. But if I want to take the girlfriend to a movie, or acquire software for work that works as expected the first time, or trust my life to a car, I will gladly pay a fair price for the assurance that it will "just work."
The good news is that overtly crappy software (e.g. Windows ME & Vist) would never see the light of day. But good quality products will still be profitable, and will command a price.
Re:Oh Slashdot... (Score:4, Insightful)
I love the double-standard so much. Piracy is fine but GPL violations ? OH GOD STOP THE PRESSES.
You write as if Slashdot would be one single person. Do I really have to explain that there are thousands of people commenting on Slashdot, with wildly varying opinions on different subjects. It could very well be that different subsets of the Slashdot populace are attracted to the articles on piracy and GPL violations, but apparently, your simple mind cannot fathom this. Unless you get down to individuals, you cannot claim that the entire Slashdot populace has a double standard and still expect to be taken seriously.