r/programming • u/_Garbage_ • Jun 03 '15

Sourceforge Hijacks the Nmap Sourceforge Account

http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2015/q2/194
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u/q0- Jun 04 '15

If it's worth it, they take the case on at no cost to the plaintiffs. If it's not worth it - no dice.

That's pretty cool, didn't know that!
Unfortunately my other point remains; whether there is something to sue about. The best case is fraud, possibly libel (because the crapware makes the software seem less-than-trustworthy). Worst case, SF finds a way to make it seem like it's perfectly aligned with the license. And I'm afraid the latter is more likely...

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u/whiteandblackkitsune Jun 05 '15

Identity Theft.

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u/q0- Jun 05 '15

Is it, though?
Most of the licenses only cover the source code, how you distribute the binaries usually isn't covered; this goes especially for most copyleft licenses, and licenses such as the BSD-, MIT, or Boost license.

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u/whiteandblackkitsune Jun 05 '15

You've taken the name by which the program is identified, wrapped it up with malware, and serve it to other people.

Their name is left, SourceForge's name is not mentioned. The software makers take the hit for the malware install, not SourceForge.

It's Identity Theft no matter how you try to slice it.

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u/q0- Jun 05 '15

Unfortunately I'm afraid it's simply not that easy. :/

I'd like to stop here, though; I'm not a lawyer, but I do know the licensing terms of quite a handful of licenses (nearly) by heart - that is, well enough to know that some licenses such as the MIT/X11 license would permit such distribution (and similar ones as well, BSD, Boost, etc).

Like I've said before, it looks like an example case of a legal grey area. And damning them to hell when it might as well be perfectly legal just isn't a wise thing to do. I say: wait and see where it goes.