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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]

#251

Post by epolanski »

rvivek wrote: post #37

Hello, I'm Vivek, founder/CEO of HackerRank. Our intention with this initiative is to takedown plagiarized code snippets or solutions to company assessments. This was definitely an unintended consequence. We are looking into it ASAP and also going to do an RCA to ensure this doesn't happen again. Sorry, everyone! EDIT: update here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31092085

> Our intention with this initiative is to takedown plagiarized code snippets or solutions to company assessments.

How can this be legal? Plagiarized is moreover a very conveniently vague word.

By this very vague definition the overwhelming majority of your own content has been seen on various parts of the internet way before you ever started your business.

There can't be a copyright on such a thing and I hope someone fights you in court, this is nothing short of bullying.

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

#252

Post by epolanski »

RachelF wrote: post #109
paranoidrobot wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> plagiarized code snippets I'm looking at the page that was taken down[1] and it seems to be largely full of pretty basic code snippets demonstrating how to use the Solvers module. Your DMCA request[2] includes the statements that say, in part, that Fair Use has been considered, that you own the copyright, and that the information in that statement is true and accurate. Could you elaborate what on that page you cons…

I wonder how many of the HackerRank questions are themselves plagiarized from other places?

Exactly, I have been sent on HackerRank by potential employers twice and every time I was given the usual coding challenge I had already seen on leetcode or similar.

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

#253

Post by manquer »

jaysonqpt wrote: post #247
manquer wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could fight them by counter claims and following the DMCA processes which on paper have stiff penalties for abuse. Practically I have never heard of major abuses being punished, so wouldn’t count on it. As a technologist perhaps solve it with tech, the first step would be to host your own content instead of using a third party app based in U.S. There is not a lot of deep tech to what GitHub gives as a githost, a…

In theory, self hosting works. I have my content self hosted. In this case, they sent a DMCA request to Google and they delisted my webpage from Google. 99% of my traffic simply dropped. In addition, all Google properties picked up the DMCA action on Google index and started sending me warning and suspension of ads etc. I have sent a detailed counter notice. But even after 12 days, I am yet to hear back from Google.…

Google could de-index you for arbitrary reasons too. The key is you didn’t loose your content itself as many YouTube channels had found the hard way, and YouTube doesn’t use actual DMCA to circumvent liability clauses .

If you are running a business using your content, then google deindexing can be bad, as can many other U.S. laws and other conventions, like how they how banks generally treat adult businesses even though they are legal or weed companies etc .

For non professionals , google or any other third party actions shouldn’t have any impact on be able to create and share their content.

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

#254

Post by sam0x17 »

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…

Curious how things got to the point where it took public outrage on HN to move the needle on this issue. Legal department going crazy with stuff without you realizing it maybe?

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

#255

Post by sam0x17 »

oars wrote: post #182
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…

Hi Vivek, why was the DMCA filed in the first place?

Reading elsewhere in the thread it looks like they have been relying on firms in Pakistan and elsewhere to scour the internet for strings that appear in Hacker Rank and submit DMCA takedowns when they find these strings elsewhere. This becomes awkward when it is in fact Hacker Rank that copied the strings from the source they are DMCAing.

They should probably never send a DMCA again. It's political suicide in this industry anyway.

We really need a strikes policy for DMCA submitters built into the legislation. Like submit three dubious claims, and you lose your copyright. I've been saying it for literally 15 years.

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

#257

Post by hdjjhhvvhga »

orangepurple wrote: post #165
Andoryuuta wrote: post #8

This same DMCA company (WorthIT Solutions) previously tried to DMCA the php docs range function page on behalf of HackerRank [0]. Pretty crazy. [0]: https://www.mail-archive.com/php-webmaster@lists.php.net/msg...

Not only that but the ENTIRE TEAM SECTION ON THEIR WEBSITE (worthitsolutions.co) IS A BLATANT LIE. Not one of those people is real. Every single biography link leads to Lorem Ipsum. It's a shady, secretive sweatshop operating out of Lahore, Pakistan.

It does not change the fact that the full responsibility is on Hacker Rank.

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

#258

Post by duskwuff »

p5a0u9l wrote: post #183
orangepurple wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that but the ENTIRE TEAM SECTION ON THEIR WEBSITE (worthitsolutions.co) IS A BLATANT LIE. Not one of those people is real. Every single biography link leads to Lorem Ipsum. It's a shady, secretive sweatshop operating out of Lahore, Pakistan.

Yup, and a couple of the stock photos of "Our team" are duplicates. Crazy. How does an outfit like this get hired?

The entire "Our Team" page is unchanged from the web site template they used:

https://pitch.qodeinteractive.com/team-grid/

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

#259

Post by antihero »

__app_dev__ wrote: post #244
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…

Hello Vivek, Personally I like Hacker Rank and consider it a good way to learn about new algorithms but at the same time I do not like the style of interviews that require it and it makes me wish I could leave the industry because it's a waste of time for people with a lot of practical experience and who have a good portfolio of apps/sites they've created. That said, I would recommend not doing DMCA at all unless it'…

I flat out refuse to be interviewed using it and if the company doesn’t drop the requirement, I drop them.

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

#260

Post by psyc »

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…

Repentance was the last thing I expected to find in here, and it did go a long way towards lowering my blood pressure.

Please don’t ever use DMCA in this way again. Even if it were somehow borderline justifiable, your users will be motivated to lambaste your company into oblivion, and to wish non-existence upon your company. Probably not the best posture for anybody concerned.

I hope other companies take note as well.

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