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I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled

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Re: I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled

#91

Post by simonbw »

I went to UW a decade ago, and back then it was pretty common knowledge that you don't fuck with software and the class registration system. Registering for classes was really competitive and they were really strict about making sure that no one had an edge over anyone else by being able to write code. There were plenty of rumors of people being expelled for using scripts to try to get the classes they wanted right when they opened. I also believe they forbid or at least frowned on students "trading" registrations, because they didn't want even more people trying to sign up for high value classes and trading them as a commodity.

So at least back when I went there, basically any CS student could have told you that this website was a horrible idea that is sure to get you in trouble.

Re: I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled

#94

Post by foota »

charlieyu1 wrote: post #61
gowld wrote: post #29

He wasn't disciplined for building an app or fetching data. He was disciplined for blatantly trying to "hack" (in the YC sense, in UW's view) the registration process: https://registrar.washington.edu/winter-2025-registration-ch... "Know that trading, selling, or buying open spots is a breach of the Registration Tampering Abuse Policy. Consequences include referral to the Student Code of Conduct process, a Registrar’…

Why is trading considered bad? It is solving some problems for both students and administrators. In my old days we did the same, only by finding someone who want to swap manually

Trading when it happens organically "oops I thought I wanted to take this class, but can't make the time slot work" is beneficial, but making it easy to register for a bunch of classes in high demand and then swap them with others messes with things.

Re: I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled

#95

Post by Aurornis »

bombcar wrote: post #76
darth_avocado wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They have a lot of time on their hands because there are so, so many people in administration. Not so polite take: most of them could be replaced by a 20 line shell script.

Actually, they can't. Their job isn't to do whatever is on the description, their job is to give someone for their boss to have in his little fiefdom. Lord of the Shell Scripts doesn't ring as fun as having 20 employees, even if the shell scripts do more.

> their job is to give someone for their boss to have in his little fiefdom.

In my friends' case, he didn't really want a little fiefdom or even to be a manager.

The problem was that they made it clear that the only way to get promoted and move up the salary ladder was to become a manager of a team. So by converting his one-person role into a job that had to be done by several people, he could justify hiring a team underneath him and therefore getting a significant raise and better title.

It's weird to hear them describe how everyone seemingly knows the game is broken, but they're open about how it needs to be played.

Re: I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled

#97

Post by [deleted] »

stikit wrote: post #57

something is missing from this story. it doesn’t make sense they jumped right to blocking your account because you requested to integrate. You sort of skipped over the part where you got hold of the Swagger files. would you care to elaborate on how exactly you found those files and if this might have been the reason for the heavy handed response? usually swagger files would be locked down on the backend .

[deleted]

Re: I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled

#98

Post by LPisGood »

charlieyu1 wrote: post #61
gowld wrote: post #29

He wasn't disciplined for building an app or fetching data. He was disciplined for blatantly trying to "hack" (in the YC sense, in UW's view) the registration process: https://registrar.washington.edu/winter-2025-registration-ch... "Know that trading, selling, or buying open spots is a breach of the Registration Tampering Abuse Policy. Consequences include referral to the Student Code of Conduct process, a Registrar’…

Why is trading considered bad? It is solving some problems for both students and administrators. In my old days we did the same, only by finding someone who want to swap manually

It opens up for abuse by offering to sell a spot.

Re: I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled

#99

Post by dgfitz »

LPisGood wrote: post #86
jdkaim wrote: post #7

Update: I immediately took down my class project site after receiving yesterday’s ultimatum. I still don’t think the simple demo site violated the letter or spirit of the registration rules, but I took it down because I always want to operate in good faith. They followed up today to thank me for doing it, but also indicated that they were putting a hold on my account anyway. As a result, I am not going to be able to…

This is bonkers, and sort of smells. I’m not saying you have outright said anything untrue, but there is at least some ambiguity that my mind is filling in, potentially incorrectly. Can you clarify how you got the Swagger files? Were they publicly available? Could you share the exact verbiage they used to seemingly extort labor and intellectual property from you? Does the university have some previously existing (and…

I wouldn't answer this question if I were the OP.

Re: I had to take down my course-swapping site or be expelled

#100

Post by websap »

jdkaim wrote: post #7

Update: I immediately took down my class project site after receiving yesterday’s ultimatum. I still don’t think the simple demo site violated the letter or spirit of the registration rules, but I took it down because I always want to operate in good faith. They followed up today to thank me for doing it, but also indicated that they were putting a hold on my account anyway. As a result, I am not going to be able to…

Wait! What!

I sort of understand the part they wanted you to shutdown the website. Maybe its a copyright issue, even though the website only showed dummy courses.

I don't understand why they'd not let you sign up for classes to graduate, it seems like you were operating in good faith, and a University would lean towards the student. It doesn't seem like there was any indication of monetization here.

I'm definitely flabbergasted by their stance on asking you to build the same feature as an extortion mechanism.

I've lived in WA for ~9 years, and held UW in high regard as I often interact with graduates at my day job. But, this leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Hope the University admin that is involved in these series of decisions, receive health as more leadership gets involved with this going viral.

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