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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

#31

Post by jsheard »

yoyohello13 wrote: post #20
max_ wrote: post #9

Why can't people just run businesses decently without deception & scams? I'm sure they can be profitable. This deceptive behaviour actually makes the business loose customers in the long term.

My general belief is that you can be a millionaire by acting ethically, but you can’t be a billionaire. Lots of people motivated by money want to be billionaires.

And in this case it worked, PayPal acquired Honey for $4 billion in cash. I can't say I'm surprised to learn that the founder is also very into Web3. Crypto is a grifter magnet.

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

#32

Post by observationist »

zb3 wrote: post #4

If something is "heavily promoted by influencers", it's garbage. Would it make a difference if this garbage was GPL licensed?

Yes, possibly a huge difference. If they provided legitimate work and contributed to the project, with diligence and respect for the licensing, and respectfully, transparently, honestly ran with some sort of referrals / adshare type program for monetization, it would almost be respectable.

What they did was out themselves as garbage humans, with laziness, antisocial grifting, disrespect for the law, and general unpleasantness at every possible level. It'd be difficult to be worse people without adding murder or violence to the mix.

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

#34

Post by Sephr »

To be fair, Honey could easily bypass the blocklist redistribution legal issue by downloading filter lists at runtime from the official source. Then they aren't redistributing the resources.

Update: It looks like they're also using code from uBO without attribution or authorization. That's most likely illegal.

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

#35

Post by cjbgkagh »

lesuorac wrote: post #26
nicce wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works. The only reason I knew what Honey was because so many Podcasters and Youtubers have advertised it on their content. I have never used it, but I recognized the name and knew what it does.

In case you missed the news, it doesn't work the way it was advertised. Honey _does not_ scour the web for discount codes. Honey instead partners with webpages to provide you a discount code (or not) with the advantage for the webpage being that less people will use a 30% discount code and instead use Honey's 10%. Of course the really funny part was that basically none of the influencers did due diligence on their co…

They do crowdsource discount codes from other users which is how you get internal discount codes used for testers leaked to other users.

I think this is a facilitation of theft, though the theft is hidden to the user so the user does not possess criminal intent while using the code. I’m not sure how illegal it is but it is clearly wildly unethical.

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

#36

Post by starttoaster »

LordShredda wrote: post #6
zb3 wrote: post #4

If something is "heavily promoted by influencers", it's garbage. Would it make a difference if this garbage was GPL licensed?

I would never install anything advertised on youtube. Not claiming that I'm an elitist, but the audience on youtube would not have the ability to differentiate between a chocolate bar and a landmine.

Not sure where to start here. You could have found Honey advertised basically anywhere on the internet, not just YouTube. YouTube users are common across most of the developed world at this point, so it's probable that there are millions of YouTube users that are more intelligent than you or me. And what you said implies you do differing levels of due diligence for the services you sign up for depending on the platform you heard about them from, which is ill advised; regardless of where one found out about Honey, you should have questions about how their business works. Someone who has been around the block a couple times would have deduced that a business that clips coupons for you is doing something to make money, and since it's not obvious what that thing is, it's almost certainly something shady.

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

#37

Post by o11c »

max_ wrote: post #9

Why can't people just run businesses decently without deception & scams? I'm sure they can be profitable. This deceptive behaviour actually makes the business loose customers in the long term.

Because we, as a society, have decided that lying should be effectively mandated and there should be no punishment for it in general. It's not just a few businesses, it's practically all of them. As a rule, an honest businessman can't make enough money to survive while being undercut by everyone else.

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

#38

Post by talldayo »

max_ wrote: post #9

Why can't people just run businesses decently without deception & scams? I'm sure they can be profitable. This deceptive behaviour actually makes the business loose customers in the long term.

> I'm sure they can be profitable.

But can you be as profitable as your indecent, deceptive, scamming competitor?

If not, it won't matter how much of a goody-two-shoes you are. If the market sets the bar low, you either limbo or leave.

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

#39

Post by 0xDEAFBEAD »

max_ wrote: post #9

Why can't people just run businesses decently without deception & scams? I'm sure they can be profitable. This deceptive behaviour actually makes the business loose customers in the long term.

Businesses which quietly do the right thing don't make the news.

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

#40

Post by lotsofpulp »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #35
lesuorac wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In case you missed the news, it doesn't work the way it was advertised. Honey _does not_ scour the web for discount codes. Honey instead partners with webpages to provide you a discount code (or not) with the advantage for the webpage being that less people will use a 30% discount code and instead use Honey's 10%. Of course the really funny part was that basically none of the influencers did due diligence on their co…

They do crowdsource discount codes from other users which is how you get internal discount codes used for testers leaked to other users. I think this is a facilitation of theft, though the theft is hidden to the user so the user does not possess criminal intent while using the code. I’m not sure how illegal it is but it is clearly wildly unethical.

There is no theft as long as the “testers” or whoever are voluntarily installing Honey. The T&C of installing Honey surely includes the right for Honey to see and share the discount codes.
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