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New Method To Detect and Prove GPL Violations

Posted by kdawson on from the marked-at-birth dept.

qwerty writes "A paper to be presented at the upcoming academic conference Automated Software Engineering describes a new method to detect code theft and could be used to detect GPL violations in particular. While the co-called birthmarking method is demonstrated for Java, it is general enough to work for other languages as well. The API Benchmark observes the interaction between an application and (dynamic) libraries that are part of the runtime system. This captures the observable behavior of the program and cannot be easily foiled using code obfuscation techniques, as shown in the paper (PDF). Once such a birthmark is captured, it can be searched for in other programs. By capturing the birthmarks from popular open-source frameworks, GPL-violating applications could be identified."

5 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. Emacs tax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Did you know? All modern PCs ship with a special Symbolics Lisp co-processor to support the Emacs text editor. Vi users often refer to this $79 chip the "Emacs Tax".

  2. Coming soon... by koh · · Score: 5, Funny

    GGA! The GNU Genuine Advantage program!

    --
    Karma cannot be described by words alone.
  3. Sweet Mother of All Revolutions by fishthegeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    Pitchfork? ... Check
    Torch? ... Check
    Map of Corporate Castle locations? ... Check
    FSF Lawyers programmed to be speed dialed in emergencies? ... Check
    Desire to burn the non-believers? ... Check

    Okay, I'm ready! What IRC Channel are we meeting in?

    --
    load "$",8,1
  4. Re:No, really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    keyboard lubricant

    I've never heard it called that before.

  5. Re:i'd say it's time by maxwell+demon · · Score: 3, Funny

    i actually figured out what the hell GPL is. Interesting. Up to now I only knew about the GNU GPL and the Affero GPL. I guess the hell GPL differs from the GNU GPL that you have not only to give away your source, but also your soul?
    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.