Sothink Violated the FlashGot GPL and Stole Code

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.

Comments

Dumb and pointless.

[petrus4]

Refactor, relicense.

They should rewrite the whole thing if they can be bothered, and use the BSD license; that way they get what they need, and it would help the rest of us out as well.

Remember, kids; GPL violation is only an issue with code that uses the GPL. If you don't use the GPL, you won't have its' drawbacks.

Let's slashdot them

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's tell these thieves what we think about them. Not just online and by mail, but by phone and fax as well.
TEL: +86(27)67848991
FAX: +86(27)67848990

GPL encurages violation, discurages contribution

[Zenin]

ShineTheLight muses that people will take another person's work, without credit, and pass it off as their own. I would propose the GPL encourages this type of behavior rather then discourages it.

By creating a license model that is so legally toxic, the GPL pushes code reuse underground. Even if the copier wanted to give credit or contribute code back to the community, they could not because to do so would be to effectively sign a legal confession that they are using the original code at all. The effect of the GPL is that it says, "Give us every last byte of your code, hide all of it underground, or completely reinvent the wheel from scratch (which may cost you your job if you don't have enough time)". It's only reasonable that someone put in such a position would simply choose to hide the infraction.

In sharp contrast the BSD license encourage compliance, credit, and open contributions by throwing away the GPL's ridiculous assumption that "whatever is mine is mine and whatever is yours is mine too". Developers want to give proper credit; Adopting code from respected sources is a display of intelligence in software, and showing respect by giving credit gains mutual respect. Developers want to contribute code; Show and tell to the world again, is a time honored way of displaying skill and gaining respect. The GPL however, puts developers into an entirely unreasonable position with no good answer (no, drinking the koolaid is not a reasonable answer most of the time) and so forces developers to take the least unreasonable of the available (practical) options.

Re:Wrong crowd for this

[Achromatic1978]

Try making that argument in an RIAA article. I dare you.

I'll be there with a clock, counting the minutes until you are "-1, Troll", or "-1, Flamebait".

The hypocrisy of the Slashmob is astounding on certain matters, this being one of the biggest ones.