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I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

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Re: I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

#212
post #92
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

German online payment system called Sofort wants the same... ( https://www.klarna.com/sofort/ ) The instructions asked me to provide account, card number and OTP login code... then it’s just a matter of scraping all my past 10 years transactions and keep the session alive to snoop on exactly how many condoms I buy... Criminals

German law at least forces them to declare that they do so if they were doing that. Otherwise they would break a lot of laws. IANAL, but I believe that might actually get some people in jail. I remeber that banks were very much opposed to that service when they started out, warning people off (against the banks ToS, grounds for sccount termination etc.) and trying to block Sofort from their servers. I honestly don't…

> I honestly don't know how the banks were placated in the end.

because after many years into sofort, they still couldn't provide a modern authentiation flow for external services. like openid.

Re: I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

#213
post #41

This thing wants the password for your bank account? WTF? That's way more than it needs. Enough info to authorize an ACH transfer, maybe. But the login password for your bank account? No way. That voids Bank of America's security guarantee.[1] If you provide info for an ACH transfer, and the other party abuses that info, it's reversible. If you provide login info and the other party abuses that info, it's not. [1] ht…

Sounds like you yourself didn't pay for a project.3

Re: I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

#214
post #41

This thing wants the password for your bank account? WTF? That's way more than it needs. Enough info to authorize an ACH transfer, maybe. But the login password for your bank account? No way. That voids Bank of America's security guarantee.[1] If you provide info for an ACH transfer, and the other party abuses that info, it's reversible. If you provide login info and the other party abuses that info, it's not. [1] ht…

Yes, but this is increasingly common in online services. Reputable services like Wealthfront also work like this, requiring your bank login to work. The fact that Plaid has their entire business built around providing “bank logins as a service” speaks to that. I don’t like it either, but I’m not sure how you could get archaic banks and low-tech consumers to adopt something better.

Wealthfront doesn't require it, though it is the method that's front-and-center. You can use ACH transfers.

Re: I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

#215

Hey guys its cool to see that you like my project. Unfortunately these types of things happen to independent contractors often and theres not a whole lot you can do about it but learn from mistakes. I used some awesome tech for the first time in this one like react-native-web which is now in Expo and react-spring for those sexy animations. Im happy for any of you guys to use this project as a boilerplate, learn some…

How common as a ballpark percent? I’m asking because I’m trying to decide whether to try some contracting this year or not

Personal data point - in my six years of doing this (not fulltime), zero.

You can mitigate this risk in the following ways:

* Focus on taking in referrals; you're less likely to get hosed if you know a way back to them.

* Fixed contract + payment plan. As much as you can, negotiate one and have everyone sign it.

* Get clients in your geographic proximity. Spend a lot (say, 3 hours) of unbilled time with them in advance of closing a deal. This gives each party a chance to suss out the other. As with the first bullet point, you're less likely to get scammed because you probably know where they work.

Re: I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

#216
post #74
post #2

INAL but even if you did not get paid does not automatically means the result of work for hire belongs to you. If you are a contractor this is a smart thing to explicitly stipulate in the contract.

There are two reasons why that does not make a lot of sense. Firstly, the term "work for hire" refers to a quite specific situation where the copyright for work you create is not held by you as an individual but by the company employing you. It does not apply to contract work except for a very limited set of circumstances, such as work done for motion pictures in the USA. Secondly, it is difficult to understand how e…

There are many confused and wrong comments in this thread. This is not one of them. Spot on: no payment, no IP.

Re: I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

#217
post #81

Don’t understand why someone would throw away their integrity by doing this. When a client refuses to pay, the standard procedure is to take them to court and then make them pay what is owed + attorney fees. Instead, this developer has put himself on industry blacklists by doing this. No way he’ll be trusted with sensitive projects. Don’t do this.

He's not on my blacklist. Perhaps he's aware that every action that anyone ever takes, is approved of by some people and disapproved of by others, and your only choice is between who approves of you and who disapproves of you. I for one, approve of this resolution a hell of a lot more than courts and suits. They are tools you may be forced to use sometimes. It's great that the system is there for when you need it. Bu…

Yeah, and what's more, this whole thing is fantastic marketing for his contracting business. He'll definitely get more work from this.

Re: I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

#218
post #2

INAL but even if you did not get paid does not automatically means the result of work for hire belongs to you. If you are a contractor this is a smart thing to explicitly stipulate in the contract.

Even if you do get paid, the work belongs to you, unless the contract says otherwise. Most clients do not realize this, in my experience.

Depends on the nature of the work product and importantly on the legal jurisdiction. In the USA, for software source code, you are probably right.

Re: I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

#219
post #6
post #2

INAL but even if you did not get paid does not automatically means the result of work for hire belongs to you. If you are a contractor this is a smart thing to explicitly stipulate in the contract.

There would have to be a pretty interesting contract that states if the client defaults that they retain ownership of any work related. They may likely be able to make some claims around any IP related. But you can put anything in a contract, so whose to say.

Such contract terms might be ruled unconscionable.

Re: I didn't get paid, so I open-sourced my client’s project

#220
post #81

Don’t understand why someone would throw away their integrity by doing this. When a client refuses to pay, the standard procedure is to take them to court and then make them pay what is owed + attorney fees. Instead, this developer has put himself on industry blacklists by doing this. No way he’ll be trusted with sensitive projects. Don’t do this.

This is not standard procedure at all: in most legal systems the cost to sue greatly exceeds the loss. Standard procedure is to take risk reduction measures in advance such as requiring payment up front, source code escrow, only working for clients with a known history of honest business dealings, etc.
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