3 Count: Open Source Woes

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1: OpenTofu Responds To HashiCorp Copyright Infringement Claims

First off today, Justin Warrent at Forbes reports that the open source project OpenTofu has responded to allegations of copyright infringement, providing evidence that it did not copy unlicensed code.

OpenTofu is a fork of the Terraform project, which is owned by HashiCorp. HashiCorp recently changed the licensing of Terraform to the Business Software License. This prompted developers who wanted a more open source friendly license to fork the project. However, after that fork, HashiCorp accused OpenTofu of copyright infringement, copying newer code without a license.

OpenTofu has responded to the allegations, explaining that the similarities between the projects are because they both use older, open source code. They were able to prove that new features added to OpenTofu were not based on HashiCorp’s post-BSL changes, but on the earlier codebase.

2: Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA From App Store Due to Spam and Copyright Violations

Next up today, Joe Rossignol at MacRumors reports that apple has removed an emulator for the Game Boy alleging that the app violated App Store guidelines related to spam and copyright infringement.

The app, named iGBA, aimed to allow users to play Game Boy games on their iPhones. Apple had long prevented emulators from appearing in the app store, citing security concerns about the apps running external code.

iGBA was removed from the store after developer Riley Testut said it was a copy of his project, GBA4iOS. It is unclear if that is the reason for iGBA’s removal, with other potential issues involving the app allowing access to copyright-infringing ROM files. Regardless, the app has been removed despite briefly appearing on the top app charts in the App Store.

3: Music Piracy Sites Targeted By Europol & Bulgarian Organized Crime Unit

Finally today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that a law enforcement unit in Bulgaria says that it has shut down a dozen music piracy sites, marking a rare example of anti-piracy enforcement in the country.

The move was done in coordination with Europol and Europol, the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP). It involved the seizure of a dozen different sites, all of which now display a banner indicating that they were removed by the authorities.

No arrests have been reported at this time. Nine of the domains were registered with Dynadot in the United States, though it is unclear what role the US or Dynadot played in the shutdown.

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