[Sobieski at Kahlenberg Mtn.]

Software developer gives Trump’s social media platform 30 days to make source code public

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/30-days-lawsuit-truth-social-software-breach

Excerpt:

Former President Donald Trump’s new social media company has 30 days to make its software source code public or risk losing it, the developer said in a letter.

Mastodon, an open-source social media platform, wrote to the chief legal officer of Trump’s TRUTH Social Tuesday requesting it comply with Mastodon’s open-source software license or face the potential of losing access to the software.

“On Oct. 26, we sent a formal letter to Truth Social’s chief legal officer, requesting the source code to be made publicly available in compliance with the license,” Mastodon co-founder Eugen Rochko said in a Friday press release . “Truth Social has 30 days to comply or the license may be permanently revoked.”

FACEBOOK TO CHANGE CORPORATE NAME TO ‘META’

Mastodon previously alluded to legal action over screenshots apparently showing TRUTH Social had lifted code from the software developer without attribution, with founder Eugen Rochko saying earlier this month that he “intend[ed] to seek legal action.”

The former president’s social media company came under scrutiny after hackers discovered a backdoor link into the website’s beta. Within hours of the Oct. 20 launch , trolls had made several fake accounts impersonating Trump and his associates before TRUTH Social’s team took down their accounts. When screenshots leaked from the beta, users discovered that the website was running on Mastodon, open-source software used to create social networks separate from Big Tech.

Mastodon operates under an AGPLv3 open-source license, which requires any company or person who uses the code and modifies it to make the modifications publicly accessible. Other developers can also use that code if they so choose. Gab, a right-wing social network, also uses this software for its user base.

Despite Mastodon’s terms of use, TRUTH Social’s terms claim the website and all its source code and software are the proprietary property of Trump Media & Technology Group, implying that the software or any changes that TMTG makes will not be publicly accessible, an apparent breach of the AGPLv3 license.

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[little jeremiah]

What does this mean, as though explaining to an eight year old?

[Steven W.]

AGPLv3 open-source license, which requires any company or person who uses the code and modifies it to make the modifications publicly accessible

This is bordering on the absurd at this point.

I'm not sure exactly how Mastodon is coded ... but ...

If their software is so in need of "modifications" ... that says something.

More than likely - if their architectural team is on the ball - any changes might be stylistic in nature i.e. use interface (U/I) related ala using "blue" instead of stock colors ... or maybe a modification to some plugin to better vet for trolls ... or whatever ...

It really doesn't matter ...
It's nothing (or should be NOTHING) of any real import. There is no intellectual property at bay here.

Again I've not looked into this further but the end product of such things is proprietary - does Mastodon claim rights to other pieces alongside, hardware +/- software? No. Thus the sum of the parts is a separate entity. As long as the components are properly disclosed in terms of use (TOS) ... this is grasping at nothing to get ... nothing.

[thinden]

FACEBOOK TO CHANGE CORPORATE NAME TO ‘META’

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has anyone noticed the new META logo?

does that remind anyone of any other logos we’ve seen out there before like NSA????

and something else looks quite similar if my memory serves me??

anybody else catch this??