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Except Github is hosting software, and this license allows them to modify and use that software in any way they like, without complying with the software's norm
by joeyh 10y ago
Except Github is hosting software, and this license allows them to modify and use that software in any way they like, without complying with the software's normal license.
- eli 10y agoYes, even if your license says you have to quack like a duck when you view the source, if you intentionally upload it to github... they have a right to host on their servers it without quacking. This is not malicious. And is kind of obvious? Here's what bitbucket says: >Subject to the terms of this Agreement, you hereby grant to Atlassian a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free right to (a) collect, use, copy, store, transmit, modify and create derivative works of Your Data, in each case solely to the extent necessary to provide the applicable Hosted Service to you and (b) for Hosted Services that enable you to share Your Data or interact with other people....
- ceejayoz 10y ago> this license allows them to modify and use that software in any way they like Only "in connection with rendering the Website and providing the Service", i.e. they can display it in the web UI and syntax highlight it and whatnot.
- joeyh 10y agoThe primary way to use software is to run it.
- ceejayoz 10y agoThat's not Github's primary use for the software they host. The idea that they'd want to save a few thousand bucks by stealing someone's proprietary code to run Github.com itself is simply silly - it'd risk their reportedly multi-billion dollar valuation.
- mercer 10y agoI agree that this is the most likely reality, but isn't it just good 'due diligence' to make sure that this is properly hammered down in the ToS?
- Crespyl 10y agoWouldn't using, say, a high performance source code search engine in their backend, be "in connection with rendering the Website and providing the Service"? Isn't there a (theoretical) concern for someone hosting GPL'd frameworks/servers/etc. on GitHub, that GitHub might want to use to replace or build their services?
- shakna 10y ago> and providing the Service This is the wording that concerns me most, because the Service is defined as: > The “Service” refers to the applications, software, products, and services provided by GitHub. Thus, GitHub could legally use this to use any software hosted by them, so long as it entered their stack at some point. Contrived example: They could use a modified Linux kernel at the bottom of their stack, and refuse to give anyone access to the source. Breaching the AGPL, but it doesn't apply. Simply because the Linux kernel is mirrored on GitHub.
- ceejayoz 10y ago> They could use a modified Linux kernel at the bottom of their stack, and refuse to give anyone access to the source. Sure, if they wanted to risk billions of dollars of valuation for no good reason. After such a thing was discovered, how long do you think folks would continue hosting their private proprietary projects there?
- shakna 10y agoAs I said, contrived example. Doesn't change the fact that the wording is troubling.