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Curebit’s at it again, stealing more than code this time
- shareme 15y agoa solution, investors need to fire Grant's ass immediately..
- benjlang 15y agoCurebit's demo video was created in 2010 so it's not as if they went about using the music illegally after the previous incident. Random Rab tweeted the founder of Curebit yesterday, he deserves some time. This seems like a hatred campaign...
- whatevafoo 15y agoIt's not a hatred campaign, it's the being put under the microscope that comes with fucking up. It's also a case of two points making a line.
- rhizome 15y agoIt also appears to be a case of the musicians using Twitter instead of existing laws like DMCA takedowns. For some reason.
- jc4p 15y agoWhen did we go from talking about how DMCA is old and flawed to talking about how people whose work is stolen should be ignored if they don't use DMCA and instead use more public and direct methods?
- rhizome 15y agoI don't know, but isn't the point to get the situation taken care of? Methinks the band might have ulterior motives that have nothing to do with copyright. And when did I say they should be ignored?
- evo_9 15y agoHow does the fact that they did this in the past make it any better? This just shows that their lack of judgment isn't a recent issue, or a fluke. This looks terrible because it is terrible.
- benjlang 15y agoThe fact that they're being put under the microscope for everything they've done is unfair. They deserve time to change and improve. After all Random Rab only tweeted them yesterday, for all we know once the founder of Curebit sees it he will remove the video. Haven't even given him a chance.
- _delirium 15y agoIt's weird that it's news, though; if "startup didn't license music for their demo video" was news, we'd have these stories every week. I've even seen one with a Michael Jackson backing track, which I'm guessing they didn't license from the Jackson estate...
- shareme 15y agothere is no love for stealing..none..this is not kindergarten..he now has to face the consequences
- iamjustlooking 15y agoIf they deserve some time does that mean we are free to take other peoples music so long as we take it down as soon as they find out?
- steventruong 15y agoEven if the vid was created in 2010 doesn't necessarily mean the artist knew about it until recently. I'm sure he isn't purposely choosing to attack Curebit just because they recently got called out
- vineet 15y agoIt is not the responsibility of owners to police their assets. Stealing is a crime. Part of the job of startup founders is to make sure that their team is careful. I do feel bad for all the bad news that Curebit is getting for small issues. But I am glad that such issues are being highlighted.
- patrickod 15y agoI'm not trying to excuse this but I don't believe Curebit are the only startup to have ever done something similar. As benjlang said it seems a bit more like directed hatred.
- diegogomes 15y agoMan, their new investors will go crazy. 2 scandals, just a few days after landing new funding...
- huhtenberg 15y agoOh, common. This is getting ridiculous now. This is just some random people jumping on a free PR wagon while it rolls. It's neither interesting nor it's news. Flagged. (edit) Feel free to downvote, but do tell me - do you really think this belongs to the front page of HN? And do you not think this looks even a little bit like a group bashing now?
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- johnrob 15y agoAn internet company did something wrong. We'll make them pay by boosting their google page rank.
- AznHisoka 15y agodoesn't do them much good when potential customers Google them, expecting to read reviews only to read about their theft.
- nicksergeant 15y agoNot all PR is good PR: http://cl.ly/1p0D1i1J3U133f0R3G1i http://cl.ly/1p0D1i1J3U133f0R3G1i
- pekinb 15y agoThe glee with which people are piling criticism on these guys is disturbing.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- cageyjames 15y agoCould be a rough couple weeks for Curebit. Clearly the Internets is going to go through all their work with a fine tooth comb. I doubt any company could be 100% sure they haven't used non-licensed materials. That said, Curebit seems to have a bit of a problem on their hands. Smoke, meet fire...
- sudonim 15y agoThis is a tough situation for Curebit. People are now looking for a pattern of behavior, and unfortunately for them, they're finding it. The company hasn't been given the opportunity to change their behavior. Should they? If you find a spouse cheating, should a history and pattern of dishonesty be ignored because they say "I didn't know it was wrong"? I think the lesson here is to behave with the same integrity and respect for other people's work before funding as you would when you're a big and successful company.
- dangoldin 15y agoIt's a matter of degree. It's somewhat similar to the GoDaddy support of SOPA/PIPA and reversing their position after the online protests. On one hand they reversed their position but on the other they supported the shitty legislation in the first place. How should GoDaddy be treated?
- nathanpc 15y agoHere we go again...
- pg 15y agoNot to diminish this problem, but do the people upvoting this realize how pwned they are by these journalists? The journalists know (1) HN is a giant pipe of page views, and (2) any story they write with new revelations about some misdeed by Curebit will be reflexively upvoted by enough users to rise high on the frontpage. And so they write said story, people upvote it as predicted, and this fluff is our news for the day. I usually err on the side of not killing stories criticizing startups we'd funded, but if this was about a startup we didn't fund I'd kill it in a second. (Though of course I wouldn't have to, because few would upvote such a story, which means no journalist would bother writing it.) So I'm going to bury it. I'd rather seem like I'm censoring bad news about startups we funded than let Venturebeat fill HN with crap like this.
- jvandenbroeck 15y agoWell I think people are interested in the story, it's like girls that like to watch a girls serie, like to gossip. That said the "tech" relevance of the story isn't that big & I feel bad for Curebit, I read DHH 's post on twitter about it yesterday & although they are making incredible stupid mistakes, one public flame is enough, they're also just trying to start a company.
- rhizome 15y agoI don't think this story's presence on VentureBeat indicates that "people are interested in the story."
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- bryanlarsen 15y ago82 upvotes says people are.
- tptacek 15y agoPlease, then, don't be selective: ban the site. You ban lots of other sites. Venues that "pwn" HN shouldn't be allowed space on the front page. If they write something uncharacteristically excellent, someone is sure to blog it, and that person can collect the pageviews. Also, Venturebeat is far from the worst offender. At least they (ostensibly) have reporters.
- rockarage 15y agoFor those of you who think people are piling on, understand that things could be much worse. They are company operating USA where copyright infringement is illegal, punishable by a fine and/or jail time. They can also be sued in court and cost the investors thousands on dollars. An internet mob lashing is not their biggest problem, a lack of integrity is.
- gravitronic 15y agoSo during the SOPA protests the HN comment threads had a lot of people stating that copyright should be abolished, or that IP theft is a market failure, torrenting should be legal, etc, etc, etc... I'm guessing those people are also against Curebit doing what it's done? Is there a rallying cry of "HTML is easy to steal and therefore it's a market problem and not Curebit's fault since it is so easy"? I'm not saying it's a 100% parallel, but you see can see it. One one hand we have "IP theft is ok" and on the other "IP thieves! Get them!" I know the difference is Curebit's potential profit motivations vs. "I'm a movie collector who wouldn't have bought these overpriced DVDs", but the irony is still present given the close timing between the two events.
- bermanoid 15y agoOne one hand we have "IP theft is ok" and on the other "IP thieves! Get them!" People don't care too much about "stealing" IP for your own viewing/listening enjoyment. They do care if you're stealing it and re-publishing it as part of your own product without the proper permissions. There's no contradiction here.
- drostie 15y agoI think it's important to scope the word "against" here. When one is "against" copyright, one is usually against extortion-esque tactics and expensive punitive judgments from courts against individuals in a campaign of intimidation. That's not really at play here, even discounting "potential profit motivations." There's just no threat of a lawsuit, and so that's probably why they'll be reasonably quiet on this article. If you're a comedian, there is a professional artistic courtesy that you do not steal another comedian's joke -- that if you do, then you are "taking credit" for something which you did not produce. It strikes me that this is the same sort of irritation. The corporations who get mad that you've been seeding the Bourne movies on BitTorrent don't pretend to any sort of artistic outrage, and if they did it would be absurd, because you're faceless and not claiming to any sort of artistic innovation. But we're quite clear, I think, on the fact that (a) they're executives, (b) the government gave them a monopoly on copying these films, and (c) they're upset because end-users didn't care about the monopoly and shared anyway. Given all that, I'm not sure I find the discrepancy particularly ironic. Actually, I think I'd more or less expect it -- if only because developers have clear human faces, while the RIAA's lawyers and executives do not.
- natep 15y agoWhy is this a story? 4 clicks, and the artist can report the video on Youtube. Flagged.
- memset 15y agoOne advantage that YC-funded startups have over everyone else starting businesses on the side is the coverage. Lots of eyeballs to admire and try out your work, give feedback, etc, without having to spam your twitter feed or beg family to try out your prototype yet again. The flipside of starting a business under the limelight is the tabloid-like press that you get, which seems to intensify if you're YC, because a lot of people with seriously great hacker cred have basically personally endorsed your company and its people. This is a good thing; it gives folks the chance to be a business on a hill and display exemplary ethical practices. It is not okay for any business entity to break copyright law, and if one has found themselves to be in error (people make mistakes) then one must immediately remedy the situation. This applies to all businesses, and YC companies happen to be under the microscope. So take advantage of the enviable perks of having press and use the limelight as an opportunity to show stellar maturity and ethical behavior!
- ldn_tech_exec 15y agothis is boring now. leave them alone
- asdf333 15y agoHi everyone, One of the curebit cofounders here. We spoke with the artist as soon as we got his message and began discussion to get the music licensed on Sunday. (Its possible Jolie O'Dell had some stale news as it was posted monday). As of an hour ago, we have come to an agreement on acceptable licensing terms with Random Rab for the music we used, and an apology. https://twitter.com/#!/randomrab/status/164070854433570817 https://twitter.com/#!/randomrab/status/164070854433570817 We've been combing through our assets and code to make sure we have all the appropriate licenses (and obtaining/replacing) for any assets we do not. It may take some time to get through everything, but this is our first priority. Meanwhile, if you'd like to bring anything to our attention, please let us know at support@curebit.com. We'll act on it promptly.
- bootload 15y ago"... As of an hour ago, we have come to an agreement on acceptable licensing terms with Random Rab for the music we used, and an apology. ..." It's not that you stuff up that matters, but how you recover. A tick in my book.
- sheldonh 15y agoQuite a few people expressed confusion around the strength of emotion with which people were reacting. One part of the answer is that the software company and the artist that Curebit stole from are both darlings with strong fandoms. I know I wouldn't have cared if they'd stolen from Oracle Corporation and The Jonas Brothers.