Open Source: you're doing it wrong - the Pyjamas hijack

[Adrian Hunt]

Hi ya,

Not to be confrontative but just because a project is open-source, it doesn't mean IP is open too!! The original idea is still property of the originator... It just has the global community adding their own IP and fixes.  This is a core of corporate contracts ensuring that a developers IP become freely usable by the company they work for at the time, but their IP is still their IP.

In the UK at least, a developers IP cannot be hijacked by a company contract. If you write some code while working for X, then X has free usage of that IP and may restrict you from using the same IP for company Y, but only for a limited time (ie 5 years)… The IP you came up with is still yours and a contract that claims your IP can (and has been in a court of law) judged to be null and void.

The problem is proving it!!!  


> From: jeanpierreda at gmail.com
> Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 15:00:11 -0400
> Subject: Re: Open Source: you're doing it wrong - the Pyjamas hijack
> To: lamialily at cleverpun.com
> CC: python-list at python.org
> 
> On Wed, May 9, 2012 at 2:45 PM, Temia Eszteri <lamialily at cleverpun.com> wrote:
> > And you know what? Leighton was right to threaten legal action. What
> > you did was not only in violation of his IP, but also multiple data
> > theft laws.
> 
> As far as copyright goes, it was open source, so he's allowed to
> continue making modifications. I don't think Luke had any patents.
> 
> There might be something with stealing the name "PyJS" (which was,
> AFAIK, used as a synonym for "PyJamas") -- apparently "common law
> trademark" is a thing. Otherwise...
> 
> The domain was apparently not directly owned by Luke (but pointed to a
> server luke administered), and its transfer was apparently consensual.
> 
> It seems like nearly every evil thing the hijacker did is legally
> permissible. The one other thing was the way he created the new
> mailing list might not have been legal, apparently. (See
> http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2012-May/1291804.html ).
> 
> -- Devin
> -- 
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
 		 	   		  
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