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Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

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Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#81
Regarding Germany's official Corona tracing app (not the of this post), by the end of last year there was a discussion about collecting movement data of the app users [0]. The discussion was part of the "German Infection Protection Act", resulted in public protests and in the end got declined. I wonder what the state of this is in other countries?

[0] https://www.sciencemediacenter.de/alle-angebote/rapid-reacti...

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not of the fine is set to be a ratio or proportion of your wealth or income.

You might be getting closer but someone who is just barely making ends meet could be ruined by that, where someone with obscene wealth can lose even 10% and still buy a yacht minutes later.

This is just saying that rich people are rich.

Someone with obscene wealth can be imprisoned and still buy a yacht - even incarceration has a much greater impact on a poor person.

As such, I'd rather fine them in proportion to their wealth.

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#84

So when does this app get banned from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store? They clearly violate some terms of service... if legit apps get banned then why not this behaviour?

I think even Google and Apple would have to think twice about banning a state sponsored COVID-19 tracking app.

It's not the official German contact tracing app. It's a private app. See replies to the top comment for more details.

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#85
For context:

- We are talking about a file of 200 lines of code.

- It's replaceable functionality that isn't exactly rocket science.

- The issue was fixed within a few hours.

[Edit: replaced "error" with "issue" to avoid implicit judgement and establish a common baseline]

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#86

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-...

Gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme monay I desire!

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#87
post #65
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not too surprising IMHO, I would expect this to be more visible to foreigners. I myself have never seen any type of low-level corruption in my home country but I learnt that also happens quite often, it's just not too visible if you don't know where to look at. I'm not from Germany, and do have a foreign name, I guess that may play a role.

Some handymen tried to double charge me, in cash of course, but that's the only thing I've experienced. The stats say 20% of Germans report having been asked for a bribe at some point in their lives. That's not great, but not terrible either.

Source for the 20%? Anecdotally I've never heard anyone being asked for one, other corrupt behaviour though for sure, things regarding land ownership, or zoning violations.

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#88
post #8

Germany has got to be the worst place to try this crap, given how many GPL violations are prosecuted through their courts.

The code is permissively licensed (2-clause BSD according to the LICENSE file, 3-clause BSD according to the comment in the source file).

They took code from the official Tracing app without attribution or retaining the copyright notice, which even 2-clause BSD would frown upon. And the original code is APL2.0, not BSD, you can't just sublicense like that.

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#89
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rundfunkbeitrag They already get your location (edit: I mean address here) when you register to the local administration (Anmeldebescheinigung).

They somehow get this before Anmeldung, I lived in my apartment for 2 years before officially registering and received Rundfunkbeitrag letters + frivoulous copyright infringement notices (from a previous apartment).

> 2 years before officially registering and received Rundfunkbeitrag letters + frivoulous copyright infringement notices

This plus Jehovah Witnesses who stalk intercom labels and decide that you are a perfect (victim) fit for their "community", and you have the full German experience. Copyright bullies, debt collection predators, religious lunatics.

Re: Copyright infringement by German contact tracing app

#90
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.

Er... do you mean offering to work "off the record" without paying taxes for it ("Schwarzarbeit")? That't tax evasion, not corruption, but yeah, that's pretty common, even in Germany.
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