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HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

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Re: HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

#201

Post by b20000 »

Jcowell wrote: post #200
ep103 wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it is a horrifically flawed metric by which to hire engineers, and is teaching upcoming crops of engineers valueless skills to enter the industry

I disagree. Kind of. There are many questions that are bullshit puzzle types but I do think HR and LC provides value of teaching when a Data Structure or algorithm is suitable for use. At the very least, It’s far better means of understanding the flexible use that college textbooks don’t teach while having test cases to see pitfalls of implementations. Having a community that shows ingenious ways of tackling problems…

a good college education covers all of the above. we don't need HR or LC.

Re: HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

#202

Post by voakbasda »

rvivek wrote: post #159

Hello again, Vivek, founder/CEO here. In the interest of moving swiftly, here are the actions we are going to take: (1) We have withdrawn the DMCA notice for sympy; Sent a note to senior leadership in Github to act on this quickly. (2) We have stopped the whole DMCA process for now and working on internal guidelines of what constitutes a real violation so that these kind of incidents don't happen. We are going to do…

Regarding (3), are you going to make similar contributions to all of the other projects that you have issued unjustifiable takedown notices? As I see it, the only reason you are making this contribution is because you got called out in public and you are getting free PR.

Proportionate contributions to other projects and individuals would go a long way to showing that you are not just playing lip service to your admission of wrongdoing. You have hurt a lot of people, and you need to make amends for your shenanigans. At the very least, you need to comp any legal fees incurred by your actions.

Re: HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

#203

Post by voakbasda »

kingcharles wrote: post #181
brasic wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the DMCA takedown process is: > A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. Has this penalty ever been enforced?

The problem is that the penalty requires prosecution by a federal district attorney. I've never managed to get a DA to prosecute perjury. I even filed a complaint against a DA once when they perjured themselves in writing. It was ruled "accidental perjury" and the case was dropped. [note: perjury has an intent element, you can't accidentally perjure yourself] Also, the above statement is vague. The perjury clause onl…

DAs are just lawyers with a fancy title, and that profession practices perjury as a second language. They won’t eat their own.

Re: HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

#204

Post by pm90 »

As soon as the online coding challenge sites started being used for tech interviews, they got into the business of trying to prevent algo solutions from being shared.

The real answer: don't do it, its not possible. You may have made some kind of contractual guarantee that you would prevent sharing of solutions, but that is your problem. This is stupid and silly and I will not be using hackerrank anymore.

Re: HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

#205

Post by 29athrowaway »

b20000 wrote: post #201
Jcowell wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Kind of. There are many questions that are bullshit puzzle types but I do think HR and LC provides value of teaching when a Data Structure or algorithm is suitable for use. At the very least, It’s far better means of understanding the flexible use that college textbooks don’t teach while having test cases to see pitfalls of implementations. Having a community that shows ingenious ways of tackling problems…

a good college education covers all of the above. we don't need HR or LC.

1. Surprisingly, there are master's degrees in computer science out there that cannot solve fizzbuzz.

2. No license is required to work as a software engineer.

3. It is up to each company to verify their candidates.

Re: HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

#206

Post by jaysonqpt »

Many people doesn't seem to understand what pain individuals undergo when their content is taken offline by Google or Github due to a fake DMCA notice.

They would have built something over years and one morning entire thing is taken offline due to a fake DMCA notice. Then they have to issue a counter notice with all its legal implications and it also exposes all your private information including full address, name and phone number(in a wrong country, you become target of thieves as well). Then it takes almost a month before content is restored.

How can an individual fight this? How can you make companies misusing DMCA pay for it?

Re: HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

#207

Post by ece »

brasic wrote: post #151
jeroenhd wrote: post #74

Not the first time they've taken down Github repos, some with a legal basis (partial problem text, though Fair Use might overrule that if the cases ever made it to court), others with no involvement at all ( https://github.com/egfx/React-Leaderboard still hasn't been restored, for example) More information about previous DMCA abuse here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29239594 Personally, I would not trust a co…

Part of the DMCA takedown process is: > A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. Has this penalty ever been enforced?

It has resulted in a settlement, and withdrawn complaints as far as I can tell: https://www.techdirt.com/2018/08/01/universal-retracts-dmca-...

And there seems to this case that is worth keeping an eye on: https://www.techdirt.com/2021/03/11/court-allows-lawsuit-ove...

Re: HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

#209

Post by trhway »

jaysonqpt wrote: post #188
rvivek wrote: post #159

Hello again, Vivek, founder/CEO here. In the interest of moving swiftly, here are the actions we are going to take: (1) We have withdrawn the DMCA notice for sympy; Sent a note to senior leadership in Github to act on this quickly. (2) We have stopped the whole DMCA process for now and working on internal guidelines of what constitutes a real violation so that these kind of incidents don't happen. We are going to do…

Hey Vivek, I have received fake DMCA requests from WorthIT Solutions, Pakistan that you guys seems to have hired. It is sent for a simple blog entry discussing about programming algorithm! I recommend training them or replacing them.

I guess it is pretty much perjury penalty risk free to make such DMCA declaration from outside of US:

>Declaration: I have taken fair use into consideration. I have a good faith belief that the use of the copyrighted materials as described above is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Re: HackerRank (YC S11) DMCA'ed the SymPy Docs [fixed]

#210

Post by ryukoposting »

ep103 wrote: post #175
johnsillings wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Because it is a horrifically flawed metric by which to hire engineers, and is teaching upcoming crops of engineers valueless skills to enter the industry

As someone who (last week) ok'ed a guy with 35 years experience to skip the first round of interviews, only to then watch him struggle to write syntactically-correct code in a language he's (allegedly) been using for longer than I've been alive, I disagree. HR isn't a be-all-end-all metric, and it certainly has its faults, but it's very useful as a first-round filter.
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