Projects using PPC source code and violations of MIT license

General
1

Hello community,

I have found at least one instance of a project re-using the PPC code and altering the MIT license header to remove the reference to correct copyright holder, the “Peercoin (PPCoin) Developers”. Before I go request that these violations be corrected, are there any objections?

2

[quote=“onthefrynge, post:1, topic:3206”]Hello community,

I have found at least one instance of a project re-using the PPC code and altering the MIT license header to remove the reference to correct copyright holder, the “Peercoin (PPCoin) Developers”. Before I go request that these violations be corrected, are there any objections?[/quote]
I don’t see a problem. I find it unbelievable that people can’t just leave just that reference when using the code. Even without an existing license, I think it is just a courtesy to do so.

3

Fire away. I doubt if they care, though.

4

If they don’t we can tweet that around, they won’t like that.

5

How about Paycoin (https://github.com/GAWMiners/paycoin)? They just copy-pasted Peercoin’s source code and replaced (almost) all “Peercoin” and “ppcoin” instances including those in the copyrights by “Paycoin”.

6

http://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/2qtw9g/looks_like_xpy_is_hiding_the_proof_of_stake/

7

Paycoin was the one that got me started on looking into this. mhps is probably right, they don’t care, why would they if they are only in this to scam? But, if their vision is grander then they will need to address this.

8

I don’t think they care about license rights but since they did spend time changing/deleting copyright notices, I agree they must care about something in their mind.

9

FWIW, I posted this here:

https://hashtalk.org/topic/26915/gawminers-you-are-in-violation-of-the-mit-license-for-your-use-of-peercoin-developer-code-in-paycoin

I went back and forth on whether to send this message privately to the developers or post publicly. I think the former is a much more professional choice but in the end I decided that I would like this issue to have some visibility.

10

They don’t seem to be very happy about the news… ;D
I’m pretty sure most of them never heard of Peercoin and even less about the fact that Paycoin’s only dev work was to replace all instances of “PPcoin” with “Paycoin”.

Good stuff that you posted there, like someone said in the thread:

Actually - serving notice in a public forum where thousands of people can verify receipt is pretty smart.

:wink:

11

I’ll submit a PR tomorrow with the corrected attributions. For now it’s time to eat and drink :slight_smile:

12

Happy New Year! :slight_smile:

13

Very cool, let me know if I can help with anything.

Turkey is just about to come of the BBQ and the egg nog is made :slight_smile: Happy new year all!

14

I think Paycoin is on the way out anyway, this great action recognizing the Peercoin developers work might speed up things a bit :wink:

15

After reading about the cluster that is Paycoin, I’m reconsidering the damage that submitting a PR may bring to my Github account if it is accepted.

If the community would like Peercoin recognition, I’ll take one for the team, but my gut says to stay the hell away from this one.

16

Probably a good call

17

Probably a good call[/quote]

Explain.

It’s not like we’re lighting torches and creating a mob walking down the streets ready to kill.

It’s just a polite, “do you mind”, putting back the copyright notice and putting yours underneath to preserve the integrity of where the code came from?

In most cases, it will probably be an “oops, sorry. yes, no problem” kind of deal.

18

[quote=“Ben, post:15, topic:3206”]After reading about the cluster that is Paycoin, I’m reconsidering the damage that submitting a PR may bring to my Github account if it is accepted.

If the community would like Peercoin recognition, I’ll take one for the team, but my gut says to stay the hell away from this one.[/quote]

Makes sense to me. GAW has seen quite a bit of bad press recently and looks to me like a sinking ship anyway. If they manage to stay afloat and PayCoin keeps a presence then a PR about this could be valuable to the community. I would also be happy to put my name on it if that helps.

19

In the light of MtGox, the GAW story is extra ordinary http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2r0twz/josh_garza_must_not_be_allowed_to_speak_at_the right? Hm, maybe it’s more of a tradition? :stuck_out_tongue:

20

Probably a good call[/quote]

Explain.[/quote]

That will probably annoy the pig.