6 ms·

Blocking entire repo for FindSubstring.java sounds a bit hostile? Also if the repo lets say contain general question like FindSubsring can they dmca whole repo.

Blocking entire repo for FindSubstring.java sounds a bit hostile? Also if the repo lets say contain general question like FindSubsring can they dmca whole repo. If I check on archive https://web.archive.org/web/20200921030437/https://github.com/arcturusInk/questionsAskedInInterviews/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200921030437/https://github.co... it doesn't look like this repo should be dmca ed.

adrr 5y ago
They claim find substring question as their own art? I was asked this in the early 2000s and i am sure i asked this question to candidates in the mids 2000s. Someone should find proof of any early example they asked a candidate and DMCA hacker ranks cloud provider.
formerly_proven 5y ago
Literally claiming copyright on this description for "find substring": "Given s and x, we want to know the zero-based index of the first occurrence of x in s" They also seem to claim copyright on renditions of "their" questions in various repositories containing interview notes in general, e.g. https://github.com/jayshah19949596/CodingInterviews/blob/master/Twilio%20Software%20Engineer%20-%20New%20Grad-Part-1/README.md https://github.com/jayshah19949596/CodingInterviews/blob/mas... There's also a number of URLs in here which have "leetcode" and not "hackerrank" in them. A sibling points out this golden nugget from the DMCA notice: "(the whole repository is infringing copyright as it contains the solution)" i.e. HackerRank is claiming that not only they own the copyright on "How to find the first occurrence of x in s?" but also every solution to that question, which is a completely ridiculous notion.
- imglorp 5y ago
  Is that a long enough sample for DMCA? That sounds more like fair use if it's only one sentence.
- forgetfulness 5y ago
  Any chance that it's an example solution copy pasted from their site?
- kamaal 5y ago
  >>HackerRank is claiming that not only they own the copyright on "How to find the first occurrence of x in s?" but also every solution to that question, which is a completely ridiculous notion. They are in hiring business not CS education business. Their business is not helping people learn things, but helping companies hire people. If the solutions are available online, anybody can memorize them and ace tests, And they often do. If too many people do it, the whole point of test is defeated. The more solutions are available online, the more pointless the test becomes. Which actually says more about the testing methods themselves. On the other hand, it's realistically impossible to keeping coming up with questions that can genuinely test a person's ability to come up with a novel algorithm for a problem. That's a CS PhD at least, if not a Fields medal category problem.
  - RansomStark 5y ago
    I get your point, but copyright was designed to stop people stealing an authors work. The DMCA was similarly designed to help in that regard even is the implementation is somewhat questionable. Protecting a business model such as HackerRank's was not the intention of copyright or the DMCA. Your argument almost turns the entire idea of copyright on it's head. As I read your comment I take away a point of view of: The HackerRank business model is predicated on keeping other peoples copyrighted work out of the hands of potential users, therefore HackerRank should be entitled the copyright of these other people. That is not a viewpoint I could support and I don't believe many, other than HackerRank could support it either.
    - kamaal 5y ago
      I know, it's just so wrong. But this is the world- as is. Just be glad, they haven't yet patented or copyrighted a tree, graph or a linked list yet. Wrote a tree traversal program to solve some problem in your program? Sorry that connects to some problem they own, so now your solution belongs to them.
  - madeofpalk 5y ago
    That doesn't sound like Github or the legal systems problem?
xyzal 5y ago
I just checked another link on archive.org that really just explains how to do linear interpolation of a missing array element from neighboring elements. This is insane. GH should really be considered a potential single point of failure now.
- thefr0g 5y ago
  > GH should really be considered a potential single point of failure now. now…
soco 5y ago
What we think is irrelevant because GitHub already took down everything. Soooo, in general... is DMCA already used as a weapon? If not, why not?

adrr 5y ago

They claim find substring question as their own art? I was asked this in the early 2000s and i am sure i asked this question to candidates in the mids 2000s. Someone should find proof of any early example they asked a candidate and DMCA hacker ranks cloud provider.

formerly_proven 5y ago

Literally claiming copyright on this description for "find substring": "Given s and x, we want to know the zero-based index of the first occurrence of x in s" They also seem to claim copyright on renditions of "their" questions in various repositories containing interview notes in general, e.g. https://github.com/jayshah19949596/CodingInterviews/blob/master/Twilio%20Software%20Engineer%20-%20New%20Grad-Part-1/README.md https://github.com/jayshah19949596/CodingInterviews/blob/mas... There's also a number of URLs in here which have "leetcode" and not "hackerrank" in them. A sibling points out this golden nugget from the DMCA notice: "(the whole repository is infringing copyright as it contains the solution)" i.e. HackerRank is claiming that not only they own the copyright on "How to find the first occurrence of x in s?" but also every solution to that question, which is a completely ridiculous notion.

imglorp 5y ago
Is that a long enough sample for DMCA? That sounds more like fair use if it's only one sentence.
forgetfulness 5y ago
Any chance that it's an example solution copy pasted from their site?
kamaal 5y ago
>>HackerRank is claiming that not only they own the copyright on "How to find the first occurrence of x in s?" but also every solution to that question, which is a completely ridiculous notion. They are in hiring business not CS education business. Their business is not helping people learn things, but helping companies hire people. If the solutions are available online, anybody can memorize them and ace tests, And they often do. If too many people do it, the whole point of test is defeated. The more solutions are available online, the more pointless the test becomes. Which actually says more about the testing methods themselves. On the other hand, it's realistically impossible to keeping coming up with questions that can genuinely test a person's ability to come up with a novel algorithm for a problem. That's a CS PhD at least, if not a Fields medal category problem.
- RansomStark 5y ago
  I get your point, but copyright was designed to stop people stealing an authors work. The DMCA was similarly designed to help in that regard even is the implementation is somewhat questionable. Protecting a business model such as HackerRank's was not the intention of copyright or the DMCA. Your argument almost turns the entire idea of copyright on it's head. As I read your comment I take away a point of view of: The HackerRank business model is predicated on keeping other peoples copyrighted work out of the hands of potential users, therefore HackerRank should be entitled the copyright of these other people. That is not a viewpoint I could support and I don't believe many, other than HackerRank could support it either.
  - kamaal 5y ago
    I know, it's just so wrong. But this is the world- as is. Just be glad, they haven't yet patented or copyrighted a tree, graph or a linked list yet. Wrote a tree traversal program to solve some problem in your program? Sorry that connects to some problem they own, so now your solution belongs to them.
- madeofpalk 5y ago
  That doesn't sound like Github or the legal systems problem?

xyzal 5y ago

I just checked another link on archive.org that really just explains how to do linear interpolation of a missing array element from neighboring elements. This is insane. GH should really be considered a potential single point of failure now.

thefr0g 5y ago
> GH should really be considered a potential single point of failure now. now…

soco 5y ago

What we think is irrelevant because GitHub already took down everything. Soooo, in general... is DMCA already used as a weapon? If not, why not?