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Missing the context... What code was there before? Was it a reverse engineering of the API whatsapp binaries use? Is there any legal basis for demanding someone

by andreyf 11y ago

Missing the context... What code was there before? Was it a reverse engineering of the API whatsapp binaries use? Is there any legal basis for demanding someone remove that?

dsl 11y ago
Yes, WhatsAPI was a reverse engineer and implementation of the WhatsApp protocol. It was mostly used by websites offering a web based chat interface for WhatsApp and by spammers.
- aryamaan 11y ago
  Pardon my ignorance, but is it using the same api which inherently whatsApp client uses? Or is it just a open sourced version of whatsApp?
  - bdisraeli 11y ago
    Yes it's a client for the WhatsApp API, presumably reverse engineered from the what the official app does.
  - dsl 11y ago
    It communicates with the official WhatsApp servers.
- soapdog 11y ago
  Actually these libraries are used by third-party clients on platforms that Whatsapp doesnt officially support such as webOS, Firefox OS and others. Its not about spamming, its about being able to offer a decent client on platforms that are not covered by official clients.
  - duskwuff 11y ago
    Does the library enable the service to be used on more platforms? Yes. Does the library enable spammers to abuse the service? Also yes. It's not an either/or situation.
    - soapdog 11y ago
      A library is just a tool, like a hammer, you can build a shelf with it or hit your neighbor. anyway, you don`t solve that problem by banning hammers....
hakanito 11y ago
The code is still there, just browse code in the latest pull request. https://github.com/venomous0x/WhatsAPI/tree/fd07b49a459cda2568c29433e58ee849000096b0 https://github.com/venomous0x/WhatsAPI/tree/fd07b49a459cda25...
- veeti 11y ago
  Can you clone this somehow? You can get a ZIP from the sidebar, but having the history would be nice.
  - cesarb 11y ago
    It's not well-known, but if you use "git clone --mirror" instead of just "git clone", you get a copy of all the pull requests as git commits, with the full history leading to each of them.
pluma 11y ago
I don't think there's a legal basis for preventing someone from reverse engineering an API in general. The "non-circumvention" clause in the DMCA is often used to go after people reverse engineering DRM, but I fail to see how it would be applicable in this case.

by andreyf 11y ago

Missing the context... What code was there before? Was it a reverse engineering of the API whatsapp binaries use? Is there any legal basis for demanding someone remove that?

dsl 11y ago

Yes, WhatsAPI was a reverse engineer and implementation of the WhatsApp protocol. It was mostly used by websites offering a web based chat interface for WhatsApp and by spammers.

aryamaan 11y ago
Pardon my ignorance, but is it using the same api which inherently whatsApp client uses? Or is it just a open sourced version of whatsApp?
- bdisraeli 11y ago
  Yes it's a client for the WhatsApp API, presumably reverse engineered from the what the official app does.
- dsl 11y ago
  It communicates with the official WhatsApp servers.
soapdog 11y ago
Actually these libraries are used by third-party clients on platforms that Whatsapp doesnt officially support such as webOS, Firefox OS and others. Its not about spamming, its about being able to offer a decent client on platforms that are not covered by official clients.
- duskwuff 11y ago
  Does the library enable the service to be used on more platforms? Yes. Does the library enable spammers to abuse the service? Also yes. It's not an either/or situation.
  - soapdog 11y ago
    A library is just a tool, like a hammer, you can build a shelf with it or hit your neighbor. anyway, you don`t solve that problem by banning hammers....

hakanito 11y ago

The code is still there, just browse code in the latest pull request. https://github.com/venomous0x/WhatsAPI/tree/fd07b49a459cda2568c29433e58ee849000096b0 https://github.com/venomous0x/WhatsAPI/tree/fd07b49a459cda25...

veeti 11y ago
Can you clone this somehow? You can get a ZIP from the sidebar, but having the history would be nice.
- cesarb 11y ago
  It's not well-known, but if you use "git clone --mirror" instead of just "git clone", you get a copy of all the pull requests as git commits, with the full history leading to each of them.

pluma 11y ago

I don't think there's a legal basis for preventing someone from reverse engineering an API in general. The "non-circumvention" clause in the DMCA is often used to go after people reverse engineering DRM, but I fail to see how it would be applicable in this case.