Still (@still@infosec.exchange)
infosec.exchange
Attached: 3 images tldr: GitCode or China is attempting to mirror/clone the entire GitHub over to their own servers and there's nothing you can do about it, even if your license somehow disagrees with it. Apparently China now has their own GitHub/public Git repository hosting service called GitCode; it is owned and operated by CSDN under the company name "重庆开源共创科技有限公司". It is being reported that many users' repository are being cloned and re-hosted on GitCode without authorization - meaning your project may very well be on this service without you explicitly allowing.

GitCode, a git-hosting website operated Chongqing Open-Source Co-Creation Technology Co Ltd and with technical support from CSDN and Huawei Cloud.

It is being reported that many users’ repository are being cloned and re-hosted on GitCode without explicit authorization.

There is also a thread on Ycombinator (archived link)

  • dan@upvote.auEnglish
    0·
    5 months ago

    I expect it’s going likely to be used to train some Chinese AI model.

    Even if they do that, the license for open source software doesn’t disallow it from being done.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      5 months ago

      It certainly can. Most licences require derivative works to be under the same or similar licence, and an AI based on FOSS would likely not respect those terms. It’s the same issue as AI training on music, images, and text, it’s a likely violation of copyright and thus a violation of open source licensing terms.

      Training on it is probably fine, but generating code from the model is likely a whole host of licence violations.

      • dan@upvote.auEnglish
        0·
        5 months ago

        Most licences require derivative works to be under the same or similar licence

        Some, but probably not most. This is mostly an issue with “viral” licenses like GPL, which restrict the license of derivative works. Permissive licenses like the MIT license are very common and don’t restrict this.

        MIT does say that “all copies or substantial portions of the Software” need to come with the license attached, but code generated by an AI is arguably not a “substantial portion” of the software.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          0·
          5 months ago

          code generated by an AI is arguably not a “substantial portion” of the software

          How do you verify that though?

          And does the model need to include all of the licenses? Surely the “all copies or substantial portions” would apply to LLMs, since they literally include the source in the model as a derivative work. That’s fine if it’s for personal use (fair use laws apply), but if you’re going to distribute it (e.g. as a centralized LLM), then you need to be very careful about how licenses are used, applied, and distributed.

          So I absolutely do believe that building a broadly used model is a violation of copyright, and that’s true whether it’s under an open source license or not.