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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

#391

Post by Ekaros »

joe5150 wrote: post #323
BurpIntruder wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% this. Until there is a mechanism to disambiguate between first and last click referrals, it will continue to be an issue.

I'm curious why Amazon doesn't show you in some obvious way what affiliate code your purchase is linked to, if any. I'm imagining something like the way they used to display your Amazon Smile charity if you used that option. Perhaps they've guessed that it would shock some people to learn how often they inadvertently use affiliate links and they would be discouraged from shopping or find some way to disable the codes…

Or even better give you option to take the affiliate cut as discount. Which would be win for everyone. Affiliate spammers would get knowledge that people gave them money out of charity. Shop would sell more as things are cheaper. And buyers would get cheaper products.

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

#392

Post by Ekaros »

zer00eyz wrote: post #146
Suppafly wrote: post #22

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

And yet consumers aren't appalled at what the kick back on a conversion is. Online advertising is a cesspool that makes things more expensive not less. Honey isnt a problem it's a symptom.

Saw the numbers on some VPN provider and was surprised just how huge the cut for essentially nothing for consumer can be... Like if that was in the original price. Then again VPNs are weird when you hear these deals and compare them to normal prices. Something is broken in the model.

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

#393

Post by bayindirh »

maratc wrote: post #389
kelseydh wrote: post #363

Google removed chrome extensions that do cookie stuffing before: https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-removes-two-chrome-ad-b... PayPal's Honey extension should be pulled by Google for doing the exact same thing. There is no difference and Honey shouldn't get special treatment just because it's owned by PayPal. --- UPDATE: It's criminal wire fraud. Brian Dunning sentenced to 18 months jail for cookie stuffing: https:…

Are you a lawyer? Asking because "cookie stuffing" (which is indeed criminal) refers to the practice of setting a ton of referral cookies for the sites the browser had no intention of visiting, just for the case it will visit them some time in the future. In my understanding it does not refer to setting a cookie for the site the browser is currently on.

No but, LegalEagle is, and he's suing for class action with a bunch of other lawyers and creators [0] [1].

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY

[1]: https://eagleteam.law/honeycase/

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

#394

Post by johnnyanmac »

akimbostrawman wrote: post #380
johnnyanmac wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Between this and that botched FOIA request, it feels real good to have content creators out there actually looking out and fighting against this BS that every other content creator lacks the expertise to do anything about. I don't care if they do two ads per video (a normal ad and one for their firm), they more than deserve to shout themselves out.

>content creators out there actually looking out and fighting against this BS Maybe they should have looked out before taking advertisement deals for products they don't even try to understand. The only reason all of the "content creator" (influencer would be more fitting) care about this, is for once the product screw over them instead of there audience (just look at betterhelp).

That's the wonderful part: you don't need to have accepted the deal or even have heard of Homey to be affected. There are some decently sized channels in that comment section of the class action That had no relationship with homey sulking about how othrt deals they took were in danger because of seemingly low click through rates.. And it's effect isn't limited to YouTubers. Y

ou don't need have been socially engineered in order to be a part of a company hack. Same deal here.

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

#395

Post by maratc »

bayindirh wrote: post #393
maratc wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you a lawyer? Asking because "cookie stuffing" (which is indeed criminal) refers to the practice of setting a ton of referral cookies for the sites the browser had no intention of visiting, just for the case it will visit them some time in the future. In my understanding it does not refer to setting a cookie for the site the browser is currently on.

No but, LegalEagle is, and he's suing for class action with a bunch of other lawyers and creators [0] [1]. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY [1]: https://eagleteam.law/honeycase/

Is he suing for class action on the claims of cookie stuffing? I haven't found the actual case in either link (the second one is for "creators" only), so I can't get the answer myself.

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

#396

Post by bayindirh »

maratc wrote: post #395
bayindirh wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No but, LegalEagle is, and he's suing for class action with a bunch of other lawyers and creators [0] [1]. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY [1]: https://eagleteam.law/honeycase/

Is he suing for class action on the claims of cookie stuffing ? I haven't found the actual case in either link (the second one is for "creators" only), so I can't get the answer myself.

The event is very fresh. I don't think they're in the (private) discovery phase now.

P.S.: I'm not a US citizen, so I'm not familiar law terms in the US, if the above comment makes no sense, please forget what I said and move to next comment in the chain. Thanks.

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

#397

Post by braiamp »

maratc wrote: post #395
bayindirh wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No but, LegalEagle is, and he's suing for class action with a bunch of other lawyers and creators [0] [1]. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY [1]: https://eagleteam.law/honeycase/

Is he suing for class action on the claims of cookie stuffing ? I haven't found the actual case in either link (the second one is for "creators" only), so I can't get the answer myself.

No, he's claiming breach of contract and unfair practices. Cooking stuffing is just a customer issue, not a partner one. He would have no standing on that front.

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

#398

Post by maratc »

bayindirh wrote: post #396
maratc wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is he suing for class action on the claims of cookie stuffing ? I haven't found the actual case in either link (the second one is for "creators" only), so I can't get the answer myself.

The event is very fresh. I don't think they're in the (private) discovery phase now. P.S.: I'm not a US citizen, so I'm not familiar law terms in the US, if the above comment makes no sense, please forget what I said and move to next comment in the chain. Thanks.

I see. To be clear, I’m not saying what Honey did is not criminal activity, I’m just saying what they did does not look to me as if it qualifies as “cookie stuffing”. It might still be illegal, for a different reason. (Obligatory IANAL.)

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

#399

Post by aunty_helen »

aunty_helen wrote: post #306

Pie also removed its footer reference to being the team that made Honey and then deleted all of the team photos from the who are we page. They seem to understand cookies and affiliate links well but aren’t versed in the way back machine. The ethical standards of everyone involved with Honey/Pie are deplorable and they should be outcast from the software industry.

http://web.archive.org/web/20241223012824/https://pie.org/ab...

For context, this all started about 2 weeks ago with one of the best pieces of investigative journalism I've seen on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk

And it's spiraling from there into lawsuits etc. I'm kinda glad PayPal bought them as they can't just shut down and file bankruptcy. Hopefully some of these creators will get paid out for lost revenue.

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

#400

Post by seanalltogether »

maratc wrote: post #395
bayindirh wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No but, LegalEagle is, and he's suing for class action with a bunch of other lawyers and creators [0] [1]. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY [1]: https://eagleteam.law/honeycase/

Is he suing for class action on the claims of cookie stuffing ? I haven't found the actual case in either link (the second one is for "creators" only), so I can't get the answer myself.

My understanding from comments on reddit is that part of the suit relies on tortious interference, basically that honey is damaging the relationships between content creators and vendors by masking the source of referrals and therefore making the vendor believe that the content creator is under-performing in their contract.
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