4 ms·

Tell HN: FOSS and FLOSS software illegally on sale in Microsoft Store

2 points by app4soft 5y ago

Yesterday LibreCAD user found that there is un-official 'publishers' which sells "LibreCad 2" and other free & open-source software via Microsoft Store.[0,1] Yorik van Havre's first reaction was: > History repeats... Fortunately the community can be quite powerful in those cases[2] > At least here they didn't rebrand the app and clearly state that it is open-source. Looks like a lawyer's work...[3] But after few minutes of search we discovered[4,5] there are much more similar cases, and much worse there are half-rebranded FOSS/FLOSS too: - BRL-CAD as "BRL-CAD" by 'Alef_Soft‬' - LibreCAD as "LibreCad 2" by 'Alef_Soft' - FreeCAD as "FreeCad for Windows" by 'appsmedia1' - Scribus as "Scribus Indesign" by 'Alef_Soft' - darktable as "DarkTable LightRoom" by 'Alef_Soft' - Lightscreen as "ScreenShot Lightscreen" by 'Alef_Soft‬' - GIMP as "GIMP - Image Editor PRO" by 'Yellow Elephant Productions' - GIMP as "GIMP 2.10 Pro" by 'varapps' - OpenTTD as "OpenTTD" by 'RetroAppX' So, if you know other FOSS & FLOSS software which is on sell in Microsoft Store — let us know[6] & ”Lets report them!”[7] [0] https://twitter.com/AcikKaynakci/status/1452610914331545604 [1] https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/issues/1399 [2] https://twitter.com/yorikvanhavre/status/1452713161728081923 [3] https://twitter.com/yorikvanhavre/status/1452713161728081923 [4] https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1452713226546843649 [5] https://twitter.com/AcikKaynakci/status/1452713662804897797 [6] https://twitter.com/OSArchOrg/status/1452748736535355394 [7] https://twitter.com/yorikvanhavre/status/1452716221477146637

app4soft 5y ago
List to report: - BRL-CAD as "BRL-CAD" by 'Alef_Soft‬': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/brl-cad/9p6fk5sxdjlq https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/brl-cad/9p6fk5sxdjlq - LibreCAD as "LibreCad 2" by 'Alef_Soft': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/librecad-2/9nllw7jq3j84 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/librecad-2/9nllw7jq3... - FreeCAD as "FreeCad for Windows" by 'appsmedia1': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/freecad-for-windows/9p1c586k5wj7 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/freecad-for-windows/9p1c58... - Scribus as "Scribus Indesign" by 'Alef_Soft': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/scribus-indesign/9nv1w2cmjz4z https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/scribus-indesign/9nv... - darktable as "DarkTable LightRoom" by 'Alef_Soft': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/darktable-lightroom/9pb7bbt1pkvc https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/darktable-lightroom/... - Lightscreen as "ScreenShot Lightscreen" by 'Alef_Soft‬': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/screenshot-lightscreen/9mt8sgnk291s https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/screenshot-lightscre... - GIMP as "GIMP - Image Editor PRO" by 'Yellow Elephant Productions': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/gimp-image-editor-pro/9n17cr1nhff7 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/gimp-image-editor-pro/9n17... - GIMP as "GIMP 2.10 Pro" by 'varapps': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/gimp-210-pro/9nzkcl8lbgs6 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/gimp-210-pro/9nzkcl8lbgs6 - OpenTTD as "OpenTTD" by 'RetroAppX': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/openttd/9pjphwm23sds https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/openttd/9pjphwm23sds
- app4soft 5y ago
  LibreCAD devs just filled DMCA notice on "LibreCad 2" by 'Alef_Soft' at Microsoft Store.[0,1] [0] https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/issues/1399#issuecomment-951753643 https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/issues/1399#issuecommen... [1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/concern/dmca https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/concern/dmca
WalterGR 5y ago
How is it illegal? What are the specific license violations?
- app4soft 5y ago
  As all of them are NOT official, official software names should not be used in names of such 'forks' (3rd-party builds) without permission. Much worse, as you can see there are "Scribus Indesign" and "DarkTable LightRoom" which violates not only Scibus & darktable official names use, but also Adobe InDesign & Adobe Lightroom registered trademarks. FTR, There are also legal 3rd-party publishers who sells FOSS/FLOSS via Microsoft Store, for example see LibreOffice official partners list.[0] [0] https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-from-microsoft-and-mac-app-stores/ https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-from-micros...
  - WalterGR 5y ago
    official software names should not be used in names of such 'forks' (3rd-party builds) without permission. In an ideal world, absolutely. But trademarks (names) are distinct from copyright (source code,) and not all OSS licenses deal with the former.
    - app4soft 5y ago
      > In an ideal world, absolutely As it violates copyright & GPL it violates Microsoft Store TOS too.

2 points by app4soft 5y ago

app4soft 5y ago

List to report: - BRL-CAD as "BRL-CAD" by 'Alef_Soft‬': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/brl-cad/9p6fk5sxdjlq https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/brl-cad/9p6fk5sxdjlq - LibreCAD as "LibreCad 2" by 'Alef_Soft': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/librecad-2/9nllw7jq3j84 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/librecad-2/9nllw7jq3... - FreeCAD as "FreeCad for Windows" by 'appsmedia1': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/freecad-for-windows/9p1c586k5wj7 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/freecad-for-windows/9p1c58... - Scribus as "Scribus Indesign" by 'Alef_Soft': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/scribus-indesign/9nv1w2cmjz4z https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/scribus-indesign/9nv... - darktable as "DarkTable LightRoom" by 'Alef_Soft': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/darktable-lightroom/9pb7bbt1pkvc https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/darktable-lightroom/... - Lightscreen as "ScreenShot Lightscreen" by 'Alef_Soft‬': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/screenshot-lightscreen/9mt8sgnk291s https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/screenshot-lightscre... - GIMP as "GIMP - Image Editor PRO" by 'Yellow Elephant Productions': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/gimp-image-editor-pro/9n17cr1nhff7 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/gimp-image-editor-pro/9n17... - GIMP as "GIMP 2.10 Pro" by 'varapps': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/gimp-210-pro/9nzkcl8lbgs6 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/gimp-210-pro/9nzkcl8lbgs6 - OpenTTD as "OpenTTD" by 'RetroAppX': https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/openttd/9pjphwm23sds https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/openttd/9pjphwm23sds

app4soft 5y ago
LibreCAD devs just filled DMCA notice on "LibreCad 2" by 'Alef_Soft' at Microsoft Store.[0,1] [0] https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/issues/1399#issuecomment-951753643 https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/issues/1399#issuecommen... [1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/concern/dmca https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/concern/dmca

WalterGR 5y ago

How is it illegal? What are the specific license violations?

app4soft 5y ago
As all of them are NOT official, official software names should not be used in names of such 'forks' (3rd-party builds) without permission. Much worse, as you can see there are "Scribus Indesign" and "DarkTable LightRoom" which violates not only Scibus & darktable official names use, but also Adobe InDesign & Adobe Lightroom registered trademarks. FTR, There are also legal 3rd-party publishers who sells FOSS/FLOSS via Microsoft Store, for example see LibreOffice official partners list.[0] [0] https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-from-microsoft-and-mac-app-stores/ https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-from-micros...
- WalterGR 5y ago
  official software names should not be used in names of such 'forks' (3rd-party builds) without permission. In an ideal world, absolutely. But trademarks (names) are distinct from copyright (source code,) and not all OSS licenses deal with the former.
  - app4soft 5y ago
    > In an ideal world, absolutely As it violates copyright & GPL it violates Microsoft Store TOS too.