5 ms·

Even with the noblest of intentions, I don't know how proper it is to take the hackernews brandname for your own site. At the least I think you ought to conside

Even with the noblest of intentions, I don't know how proper it is to take the hackernews brandname for your own site. At the least I think you ought to consider putting a disclaimer on an 'about' page somewhere stating that you are not affiliated to HN and YC. On a positive note, nice job! It looks like you're getting a bit of traction already.

prateekdayal 16y ago
Good point. I want to put the disclaimer but sadly I am not able to figure it out (since I don't know any lisp). I am using this codebase - https://github.com/nex3/arc https://github.com/nex3/arc If someone can tell me how to put a disclaimer in the footer, I will put it rightaway.
- plinkplonk 16y ago
  "If someone can tell me how to put a disclaimer in the footer" The right way is to change the name. If I start a site called Google India, or even Digg India, it isn't enough (legally or ethically) to have a disclaimer in the footer, even if I am running a non profit. You keep repeating the "this is not for profit" sentence. That isn't a valid defense against brand name abuse. At the very least get permission from the owners on the original site before starting a new site by adding an "India" to its name. The last thing "Indian hackers" need is a reputation for ripping off other peoples work/brands (As if the outsourcing horror stories aren't enough). Use the open source code, by all means. But don't copy the name. I am an Indian developer and I think such unabashed copying of a popular brand is shameful. YMMV.
  - srean 16y ago
    Fully agreed +1
- srean 16y ago
  Then you should'nt have gone public with it in the first place, until those issues had been resolved. I hope I am not being unreasonably critical. Regardless of the fact whether it was legal or not, things like these just leave a bad aftertaste and you would want to avoid that as much as possible.
- angrycoder 16y ago
  so wait, you don't even know how the code works? You just grabbed it as is, registered a domain, and hoped for the best?
  - prateekdayal 16y ago
    Thats right. Just like people download linux and run it without knowing anything about its internals. Isn't open source great? :)
    - srean 16y ago
      Thats not the same thing, and it is not clear whether it is open either. Arc falls under artistic license and it is not clear at all if its free http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#NonFreeSoftwareLicense http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#NonFreeSoftwar... Even if the source was free, the brand need not be and in that case HNI would be plain illegal. Its been mentioned here that Firefox is open source but they own the brand. If hypothetically speaking, you start distributing Firefox with its proxy settings customized for Indian ISPs and call it Firefox-India, the chances are high that you will hear from lawyers.
      - deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
    - angrycoder 16y ago
      That explains a lot. Your site is still called Hacker News because you don't even know how to change the name. I assume the only reason the site isn't orange is because that information is stored in a CSS file.

prateekdayal 16y ago

Good point. I want to put the disclaimer but sadly I am not able to figure it out (since I don't know any lisp). I am using this codebase - https://github.com/nex3/arc https://github.com/nex3/arc If someone can tell me how to put a disclaimer in the footer, I will put it rightaway.

plinkplonk 16y ago
"If someone can tell me how to put a disclaimer in the footer" The right way is to change the name. If I start a site called Google India, or even Digg India, it isn't enough (legally or ethically) to have a disclaimer in the footer, even if I am running a non profit. You keep repeating the "this is not for profit" sentence. That isn't a valid defense against brand name abuse. At the very least get permission from the owners on the original site before starting a new site by adding an "India" to its name. The last thing "Indian hackers" need is a reputation for ripping off other peoples work/brands (As if the outsourcing horror stories aren't enough). Use the open source code, by all means. But don't copy the name. I am an Indian developer and I think such unabashed copying of a popular brand is shameful. YMMV.
- srean 16y ago
  Fully agreed +1
srean 16y ago
Then you should'nt have gone public with it in the first place, until those issues had been resolved. I hope I am not being unreasonably critical. Regardless of the fact whether it was legal or not, things like these just leave a bad aftertaste and you would want to avoid that as much as possible.
angrycoder 16y ago
so wait, you don't even know how the code works? You just grabbed it as is, registered a domain, and hoped for the best?
- prateekdayal 16y ago
  Thats right. Just like people download linux and run it without knowing anything about its internals. Isn't open source great? :)
  - srean 16y ago
    Thats not the same thing, and it is not clear whether it is open either. Arc falls under artistic license and it is not clear at all if its free http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#NonFreeSoftwareLicense http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#NonFreeSoftwar... Even if the source was free, the brand need not be and in that case HNI would be plain illegal. Its been mentioned here that Firefox is open source but they own the brand. If hypothetically speaking, you start distributing Firefox with its proxy settings customized for Indian ISPs and call it Firefox-India, the chances are high that you will hear from lawyers.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
  - angrycoder 16y ago
    That explains a lot. Your site is still called Hacker News because you don't even know how to change the name. I assume the only reason the site isn't orange is because that information is stored in a CSS file.