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[I'm one of the Microsoft Research people who worked on this] We used the repo-level license information from github to filter to free non-copyleft licenses, a

[I'm one of the Microsoft Research people who worked on this] We used the repo-level license information from github to filter to free non-copyleft licenses, and the license files are actually stored next to the extracted data corpus (see https://github.com/github/CodeSearchNet#Licenses https://github.com/github/CodeSearchNet#Licenses).

panny 7y ago
Are you doing anything to help copyleft licensed code repos find infringers? We all know it's common practice for unscrupulous developers and companies to take copyleft code, copy it, and then try to relicensed under permissive licenses on a regular basis. Like Google did with Oracle's GPLed Java source code. It seems irresponsible for Github to continue distributing infringing code when it clearly has the tools to prevent that happening. Youtube has fingerprinting for infringing music and video. Github should be doing the same with source code.
- desiderantes 7y ago
  >Like Google did with Oracle's GPLed Java source code. What are you talking about?
  - panny 7y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20066269 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20066269
    - glennpratt 7y ago
      Test files that were not shipped to customers...
- bpt3 7y ago
  How does Github clearly have the tools to prevent copyright infringement from happening? If you're saying they are the entity in the best position to identify infringement, I would agree, but what tools does Github already have in place to do that?
  - panny 7y ago
    Github can ID project dependencies and notify devs when one of them is vulnerable to a CVE. They could more easily find licenses for all project dependencies also, they just don't. Github could id private repos using GPL code for non-gpl licensed projects. Github could even automatically apply the correct GPL license and make the projects public, which would satisfy the license. By failing to do so, Github really seems to be encouraging copyright infringement.
    - bpt3 7y ago
      Nothing you described here is a trivial problem, nor a problem that Github has any responsibility to unilaterally fix, nor do they have the tools to do so already as you previously stated. If Github were somehow helping copyright infringers, that would be encouragement. What you're describing is additional effort on their part to actively discourage copyright infringement, which is not the same thing.
- efdee 7y ago
  > Like Google did with Oracle's GPLed Java source code. That's not what happened -at all-.

panny 7y ago

Are you doing anything to help copyleft licensed code repos find infringers? We all know it's common practice for unscrupulous developers and companies to take copyleft code, copy it, and then try to relicensed under permissive licenses on a regular basis. Like Google did with Oracle's GPLed Java source code. It seems irresponsible for Github to continue distributing infringing code when it clearly has the tools to prevent that happening. Youtube has fingerprinting for infringing music and video. Github should be doing the same with source code.

desiderantes 7y ago
>Like Google did with Oracle's GPLed Java source code. What are you talking about?
- panny 7y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20066269 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20066269
  - glennpratt 7y ago
    Test files that were not shipped to customers...
bpt3 7y ago
How does Github clearly have the tools to prevent copyright infringement from happening? If you're saying they are the entity in the best position to identify infringement, I would agree, but what tools does Github already have in place to do that?
- panny 7y ago
  Github can ID project dependencies and notify devs when one of them is vulnerable to a CVE. They could more easily find licenses for all project dependencies also, they just don't. Github could id private repos using GPL code for non-gpl licensed projects. Github could even automatically apply the correct GPL license and make the projects public, which would satisfy the license. By failing to do so, Github really seems to be encouraging copyright infringement.
  - bpt3 7y ago
    Nothing you described here is a trivial problem, nor a problem that Github has any responsibility to unilaterally fix, nor do they have the tools to do so already as you previously stated. If Github were somehow helping copyright infringers, that would be encouragement. What you're describing is additional effort on their part to actively discourage copyright infringement, which is not the same thing.
efdee 7y ago
> Like Google did with Oracle's GPLed Java source code. That's not what happened -at all-.