Live data from Hacker News

Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

github.com

11–20 of 164 posts

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#12
post #3
post #2

Clarification: This isn't the official German contact tracing app.

This is an official tracing app in several states in Germany, and probably soon in all of Germany. You're talking about the older Corona Warn App which does similar things (and is generally considered too limited), but without direct data transfer to public health authorities. That's what the Luca app does. Warn App is more for chance encounters tracking a person meeting other people. Luca is more for checking in and…

Luca is a cash grab, and maybe more sinister. Since the CWA - the official contact tracing app - switched to not collecting a central database that could be misused we have conservative politicians firing against it. "We give too much importance to data privacy", of course without being able to mention a single feature that the privacy protecting app is missing. Now Luca arrived, with some semi-prominent advocates, and you see conservative politicians shoving millions into that abomination of proprietary, data collecting and now evidently copyright infringing garbage.

It is as if a certain political class had this dream scenario of a new location registry of every move of the population. That they did not get via the CWA app, and since then they attack it. But Luca could create it.

Don't forget: This is Germany. Very low corruption at the lower level of society (you will never see a bribe in everyday life) and the basic organisation of the country seems competent. Incredible high amount of corruption and incompetence in the higher spheres - Wirecard, Cum Ex, Kohls schwarze Kassen, the governing party (CDU) currently has a scandal about members gaining millions via corruption when organising FFP2 masks, the country completely failed to contain Covid after the first more or less successful lockdown. Luca fits right in.

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#13
Oh the irony. The LUCA app has been co-initiated and financed by Smudo [0], a famous German rapper. He was a supporter of Metallica suing Napster back in 2000 for copyright violation [1].

[0] https://www.chip.de/news/Kontaktverfolgung-mit-Luca-App-von-...

[1] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Smudo-vs-Napster-Da-...

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#16

Oh the irony. The LUCA app has been co-initiated and financed by Smudo [0], a famous German rapper. He was a supporter of Metallica suing Napster back in 2000 for copyright violation [1]. [0] https://www.chip.de/news/Kontaktverfolgung-mit-Luca-App-von-... [1] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Smudo-vs-Napster-Da-...

Well, it's a pandemic. Gotta break some rules to save the world. /s

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#17

German lawyers are ecstatic over copyright issues. Soon they will form human centipede and demand 1000 EUR from everyone whose address they'll put their hands on.

I highly doubt it as this is about a commercial app infringing on the copyright of a small open source developer.

They will only send letters to people who cannot defend themselves.

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#18
post #12
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an official tracing app in several states in Germany, and probably soon in all of Germany. You're talking about the older Corona Warn App which does similar things (and is generally considered too limited), but without direct data transfer to public health authorities. That's what the Luca app does. Warn App is more for chance encounters tracking a person meeting other people. Luca is more for checking in and…

Luca is a cash grab, and maybe more sinister. Since the CWA - the official contact tracing app - switched to not collecting a central database that could be misused we have conservative politicians firing against it. "We give too much importance to data privacy", of course without being able to mention a single feature that the privacy protecting app is missing. Now Luca arrived, with some semi-prominent advocates, a…

> dream scenario of a new location registry of every move of the population

Not only politicians, I assume entities like Rundfunkbeitrag, Schufa, conuntless Inkasso will pay fortune to access such data.

> Very low corruption at the lower level of society [...] Incredible high amount of corruption and incompetence in the higher spheres

This is incredibly shocking for an newcomer to Germany. One swiftly hits the ceiling of 3-4k EUR net monthly and mortgage of 400-600k EUR with nowhere else to go, while watching enormous amounts of money being shuffled, fortunes hidden in idyllic villages, faceless dynasties owning chunks of industries, >1mln EUR apartments being purchased.

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#19
post #12
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an official tracing app in several states in Germany, and probably soon in all of Germany. You're talking about the older Corona Warn App which does similar things (and is generally considered too limited), but without direct data transfer to public health authorities. That's what the Luca app does. Warn App is more for chance encounters tracking a person meeting other people. Luca is more for checking in and…

Luca is a cash grab, and maybe more sinister. Since the CWA - the official contact tracing app - switched to not collecting a central database that could be misused we have conservative politicians firing against it. "We give too much importance to data privacy", of course without being able to mention a single feature that the privacy protecting app is missing. Now Luca arrived, with some semi-prominent advocates, a…

> (you will never see a bribe in everyday life)

That's not true, you can see lot of small bribes in normal day-to-day transactions. Almost every single technician I met (for internet installation, electricity, washing machine installation, etc. Even insurance brokers) offered me to pay them cash directly to get some benefits or falsify some recorded data.

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#20
post #19
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luca is a cash grab, and maybe more sinister. Since the CWA - the official contact tracing app - switched to not collecting a central database that could be misused we have conservative politicians firing against it. "We give too much importance to data privacy", of course without being able to mention a single feature that the privacy protecting app is missing. Now Luca arrived, with some semi-prominent advocates, a…

> (you will never see a bribe in everyday life) That's not true, you can see lot of small bribes in normal day-to-day transactions. Almost every single technician I met (for internet installation, electricity, washing machine installation, etc. Even insurance brokers) offered me to pay them cash directly to get some benefits or falsify some recorded data.

You run in strange circles. I have never ever experienced such a thing. What benefits do they offer? A faster appointment?

Cash in order to avoid taxes, sure, that happens, but again: it's not common. Almost always I simply get a paper bill, without any attempt to skirt that.

Post reply on HN