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uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

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Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#121

Post by doubletwoyou »

mx20 wrote: post #100

Is he correct? That you can't have GPL files in your project without all code adhering to it? I thought it has to be linked static. So just calling a GPLed js library likely wouldn't be enough. I think the law is muddy here and not clear at all, even if the code is directly bundled.

I think you might be thinking of the LGPL, where it’s fine to use a piece of code if you dynamically link to it (and maybe something about providing relinkable object files, but I’m not too clear about that). The GPL, on the other hand, mandates that any code that interacts with GPL’d code must be GPL’d, unless it can be easily replaced or such and such (i.e. your non GPL code calls a GPL binary via fork & exec or the like).

I’m not an expert in this sort of thing, so a more knowledgeable person may chime in.

Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#122

Post by mschild »

twostorytower wrote: post #88
alsetmusic wrote: post #83

This isn’t the first time they’ve been accused of shady practices. > MegaLag also says Honey will hijack affiliate revenue from influencers. According to MegaLag, if you click on an affiliate link from an influencer, Honey will then swap in its own tracking link when you interact with its deal pop-up at check-out. That’s regardless of whether Honey found you a coupon or not, and it results in Honey getting the credit…

[flagged]

Its not. I have had honey installed on a separate chrome instance (mainly use FF). I was not aware that the extension pulled this, otherwise I would have never used it. There are some creators I follow, whose advice I somewhat trust and I have used their affiliate links to purchase a product. I want that creator to get the commission because they sold me on the product, not honey.

Also, just because something is standard industry practice, doesn't somehow make this behaviour any less egregious.

Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#123

Post by twostorytower »

rdedev wrote: post #105
twostorytower wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Afaik the scam is honey telling users they find the best coupon but also letting shops dictate what coupons honey shows to the user. If I remember it right, the video also shows honey replacing the attribution cookie with its own even if it did not find any coupon

I heard that vague snippet from the podcast in the video. From my time in the affiliate space (which was a few years ago), Honey would not let merchants delete a code unless it was an employee or internal code. If it was publicly available, they refused to delete a code without providing an equivalent exclusive code. Maybe that policy has changed? If so, that's definitely bad, but I have no way to confirm that and I don't see any proof.

But they are allowed to claim attribution even if they don't find a coupon. Merchants know this when partnering with Honey. Most of the time, even if users don't find a coupon, they still get cash back which is funded through the commission.

Like I said, the affiliate industry is pretty wack and that's why I left it, but this is far from a scam.

Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#124

Post by twostorytower »

mschild wrote: post #122
twostorytower wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Its not. I have had honey installed on a separate chrome instance (mainly use FF). I was not aware that the extension pulled this, otherwise I would have never used it. There are some creators I follow, whose advice I somewhat trust and I have used their affiliate links to purchase a product. I want that creator to get the commission because they sold me on the product, not honey. Also, just because something is stan…

I already agreed the affiliate industry has issues (and is part of the reason I left). If they switched to first-click or multi-click attribution, none of this would be a problem.

But I am just saying it's not a Honey problem, the blame is focused on the wrong place. If they want things to change, they should direct their rage at the companies who make the rules.

Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#125

Post by tantalor »

BadHumans wrote: post #49
Suppafly wrote: post #22

As if Honey isn't already under enough fire with half the youtube world releasing videos about their shady practices.

Title is misleading. The original team behind Honey has created a new company that is doing this and not Honey itself which is owned by Paypal.

Do we know when Honey started stealing affiliate links? Was it after the acquisition?

Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#126

Post by dmonitor »

twostorytower wrote: post #88
alsetmusic wrote: post #83

This isn’t the first time they’ve been accused of shady practices. > MegaLag also says Honey will hijack affiliate revenue from influencers. According to MegaLag, if you click on an affiliate link from an influencer, Honey will then swap in its own tracking link when you interact with its deal pop-up at check-out. That’s regardless of whether Honey found you a coupon or not, and it results in Honey getting the credit…

[flagged]

Referral sniping is only a half of the scam. The other half is that Honey snipes the code even if they don't find a discount, and that companies pay Honey to prevent it from showing certain coupon codes. They pay for it because

1) thinking you got the best code when another one exists means they get ($best_discount - $honey_discount) more than they would had you actually searched

2) honey gives the false assurance that you are getting the best deal, making you more likely to complete the purchase

So Honey is both sniping referral codes and running a protection racket.

Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#127

Post by [deleted] »

twostorytower wrote: post #84
slowmovintarget wrote: post #2

If any software ever deserved being sued into non-existence it is the Honey browser extension, and any other scam software they turn out (Pie Adblock in this case). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk

This video is just rage bait and weaponizing creators and their fans by singling out Honey and not providing any additional context. Anybody in the affiliate industry knows how last click attribution works. This isn't new or specific to Honey. CapitalOne Shopping, Rakuten, RetailMeNot...they all work the same way. Merchants partner with these shopping extensions knowing how they work, nobody forces them to do so. The…

[deleted]

Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#128

Post by twostorytower »

octacat wrote: post #114
twostorytower wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This video is just rage bait and weaponizing creators and their fans by singling out Honey and not providing any additional context. Anybody in the affiliate industry knows how last click attribution works. This isn't new or specific to Honey. CapitalOne Shopping, Rakuten, RetailMeNot...they all work the same way. Merchants partner with these shopping extensions knowing how they work, nobody forces them to do so. The…

Except honey does not clarify that it replaces the referral link anywhere. The vast majority of shopping sessions do not have attribution, so adding attribution to them would just drive prices higher for regular users, damaging both users and the sellers.

https://help.joinhoney.com/article/30-how-does-honey-make-mo...

Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#129

Post by jrflowers »

shwaj wrote: post #94

I know it’s not necessarily the same people, but it feels contradictory for this community to say “copyright infringement isn’t theft” when we’re talking about movies, but use the opposite language when talking about GPL source code.

If it isn’t the same people your observation is that some people say one thing about one topic and other people say something else about a completely different topic. That is like saying some people like elephants and other people speak Portuguese

Re: uBlock Origin GPL code being stolen by team behind Honey browser extension

#130

Post by 12_throw_away »

twostorytower wrote: post #88
alsetmusic wrote: post #83

This isn’t the first time they’ve been accused of shady practices. > MegaLag also says Honey will hijack affiliate revenue from influencers. According to MegaLag, if you click on an affiliate link from an influencer, Honey will then swap in its own tracking link when you interact with its deal pop-up at check-out. That’s regardless of whether Honey found you a coupon or not, and it results in Honey getting the credit…

[flagged]

This is likely astroturf since they posted it twice, verbatim, in the same article [1], and it uses pretty standard PR deflections (e.g., "So are there some problems with the affiliate industry? Probably. But ...") without actually addressing the central claim.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42577711

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