New Method To Detect and Prove GPL Violations

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."

Comments

Re:So basically

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear dumbass,
No where in the fucking article does it say the tool will be run and then fire off an instant subpoena if a possible violation is found. What it will do, is allow people to follow-up on possible violations, i.e.: they'll review the fucking code.

Re:new use of old trick

[stubear]

Sounds to me like you were a crappy teacher then if they couldn't figure this simple method out. Aren't you supposed to be, you know, teaching them stuff like that?

And who the fuck might I ask is to spend the time

[Anonymous Coward]

And who the fuck might I ask is to spend the time doing this shit? If you don't want others to fucking use the shit keep the code out of their grubby little hands. I know I don't have the fucking time policing this sort of shit.

Just great

[Master of Transhuman]

Instead of coding open source projects, now we're coding projects to detect license violations.

Next, the Open Source Business Software Alliance and raids by the Secret Service...

When is the last time we read anything about open source that wasn't about licensing?

When did it stop being about the code and the value?

The Bungi is the problem.

[twitter]

As you can imagine I really don't like the GPL or the FSF or Richard Stallman or any of his friends too much. While I recognize their contributions I think that they've fallen into the trap of trying to force everyone to convert to what has become a quasi-religion [it goes on without gettin better]

I don't have to imagine your hatred because you constantly display it. What would a Windoze user like you know about freedom? Why should anyone listen to what you have to say about free software licenses?

Re:The Bungi is the problem.

[twitter]

What would a zealot like you know about "Windoze"? Why should anyone listen to what you have to say about Microsoft/Apple/your "non-free" enemy du jour?

I used Windoze as a desktop for seven years, had program development as part of a job for a year, did more than a year of retail tech, and I'm still surrounded by it. I've seen it as a user, I've programed for it and I've seen how myself and other users get creamed by poor security and the intentional waste of non free software. That's how I know what I'm talking about.

The Bungi just admitted to never really having used free software. That makes him an idiot.

Re:No, really

[The One and Only]

Replace your post with something that takes into account the context in which I said my remarks, and you might have something that isn't a waste of time for me to read.