Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

intuitiveexplanations.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 1001 posts

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#151

Post by wernercd »

stevebmark wrote: post #58

Did the author disclose the work on Riju as a prior invention before joining Repl.it? If so that puts him in the clear. I would also check your hiring contract to see what kind of clauses are in there about prior inventions. For larger companies, I don't think this company behavior would surprise anyone. I think I can understand where Repl.it is coming from. All I know is this behavior (by Riju author) isn't somethin…

"Prior invention" He created Riju AFTER working as an intern at Repl.it. From the article:

> I worked for Replit in Summer 2019

Also from the article, regarding Riju commits:

> 2020-06-05 df9ba38 Initial commit

"I can understand" to a degree. That's what time-limited non-competes are for. I think a lot depends on what he signed as he was hired and/or leaving Repl.it - was there a "you can't work for a competitor for x years" type document? Was there something worse?

And that's not talking about the fact that some states bar non-competes and it was over a year after he left repl.it, what's the odds his non-compete was for that long?

We obviously have one side of the story - and we know how he said/she said stories end up - but from what's being told, it seems like he's been away for long enough that non-compete to be flimsy at best and unenforceable at worst.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#152

Post by pcmaffey »

risyachka wrote: post #80
yellow_lead wrote: post #3

A fancy funded company like Replit getting scared by an intern's weekend project is entertaining. If your moat is so low it can be replicated in a few days, I think this open source project is the least of their worries.

It's kinda funny how their CEO writes on Twitter all the time that they are the best company in the world, with the best product, do most innovations in tech etc and 10 minutes later he is threatened by a small open-source project that wasn't even created to compete.

He blocked me on Twitter for pointing out something (technical) he said was wrong, and then he deleted his tweet. Told me everything I need to know about that guy.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#154

Post by MattGaiser »

mfer wrote: post #121
yellow_lead wrote: post #3

A fancy funded company like Replit getting scared by an intern's weekend project is entertaining. If your moat is so low it can be replicated in a few days, I think this open source project is the least of their worries.

VC funded companies aren't some tech billionaire funding a cool new project. VC funded companies are investments that they want a return on. It shouldn't be surprising when people try very hard to protect that investment to help them get a better return.

> VC funded companies are investments that they want a return on. It shouldn't be surprising when people try very hard to protect that investment to help them get a better return.

Yeah, but if the investment is threatened by a weekend project built in a few days, it means that a serious competitor could destroy it in a couple weeks.

The thought that came to mind about this was a baker stepping on ants outside his store because nobody was coming into the store. If nobody wants to come into the store because of ants crawling in front, your store has larger issues.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#155

Post by celeritascelery »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #78

Guys, I don’t know what this is about yet, but I know amjad (ceo). And I know that whatever is going on here, his intentions were pure. He’s proven himself to me that he’s pretty much the opposite of a sleezy corporate ceo who crushes intern side projects while twirling his mustache. I just wanted to encourage everybody to chill on it for a moment and wait to see what’s up, because my spidey senses are screaming “mis…

It sure screams of malicious intent. It would take a redaction/clarification from the CEO to prove otherwise. But my guess is he will try to ignore it and hope the problem goes away without too much brand impact. Would love to be wrong about that.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#156

Post by jonny_eh »

mcintyre1994 wrote: post #68
Exuma wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the CEO is absolutely nuts here. With that said, I also think certain employees though have a very slippery mentality of this sort of vibe where they do things that might be sketchy or on the borderline not OK (but JUST on the line), and then rationalize as "but ... reason!". The tone of this whole article is very subtly reminiscent of that... the type of person that when given an inch will take 10 inches (no…

What boundary do you think they pushed though? I understand the sentiment in general, but I didn't get it here at all because I can't see anything wrong, bad or questionable that OP did.

The author's excuses about "not intended to compete" or "it's free and open-source" (paraphrasing) aren't relevant when it comes to whether he stole anything or is competing. That said, the CEO is out of line IMO.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#157

Post by archibaldJ »

whymauri wrote: post #43
yellow_lead wrote: post #3

A fancy funded company like Replit getting scared by an intern's weekend project is entertaining. If your moat is so low it can be replicated in a few days, I think this open source project is the least of their worries.

They offered to hire him before insinuating he was a bad/demanding intern, as well. This is standard manipulative behavior and has little benefit to anyone besides attempting to make the intern feel bad. This isn't the first time I've seen a founder resort to this exact type of behavior before threatening legal action.

I would play devil's advocate here and say that the situation is probably muddier than it is presented in the blog. Also there appers to be a level of trust here (at least the Replit CEO trusted that OP will not make this go viral on HN and spiral into a PR nightmare I suppose, which though is the most entertaining path it can take)

Not sure how talented OP is. This can as well be a case study of who not to hire.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#158

Post by minimaxir »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #78

Guys, I don’t know what this is about yet, but I know amjad (ceo). And I know that whatever is going on here, his intentions were pure. He’s proven himself to me that he’s pretty much the opposite of a sleezy corporate ceo who crushes intern side projects while twirling his mustache. I just wanted to encourage everybody to chill on it for a moment and wait to see what’s up, because my spidey senses are screaming “mis…

The miscommunication angle could have been argued after the first emails. But once double downs and legal threats ensue, Hanlon's Razor doesn't apply.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#159

Post by juancb »

megous wrote: post #93
devwastaken wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Defense is a lot more expensive than offense in civil court. Complicated cases like these can be dragged for years and they'd have to pay for it. Intellectual property laws are very in the favor of whomever has the money to throw lawyers around.

Yes, but what would replit gain? Going after such a case would have given them nothing except for some expense. Dragging random people through court without any meaningful expected outcome sure doesn't seem like something VC's would like to fund. I'm not a VC though. Do they just rubber stamp whatever bullshit behavior from a CEO?

On the other hand what would such a move get Radon? Amjad seemed to sense that maybe he was fishing for a job. Which to me it seems like he was especially being a new grad. The approach backfired and now he airs the interaction which gets Radon publicity.

We only have one side of the story so it's hard to tell what exactly is going on here.

Post reply on HN