This is the way I read it as well. Like they're trying to advertise their own software.

In my mind, this alone elevates them from mere spammers to something more harmful, more insidious.

The issues here are a bit complicated. There is no way that they can claim owndership over the software. It is clear under US copyright law (that is extended many places around the world) based on the DMCA, that the ownership of the software is the developer, even if it is open source.
They are a bit misleading in their statements on the webpage announcement


The way they describe it here is as if it is their software, but it is only implicit. They are announcing it, but they don't say that it is theirs specifically. There is not much you can really argue with here I think. If they added a line, "developed by xxx" there is nothing wrong with the above passage. The omission of that statement is not ideal, but also doesn't specifically claim ownership or development by ASR.



This is strange considering that the developer said they haven't been contacted by ASR. I am not sure why ASR would say it because this implies much a tighter connection between ASR and the software. However, this negates any and all ownership rights because they specifically say that they are not in fact doing the work themselves.

Overall, I think it is annoying and perhaps a bit of plagiarism, but nothing legally wrong here.

The guy/girl who is actually hosting the software and allowing people to play it without the extension I think is potentially a bigger problem. If the developer decides to monetize the software through ads or something, they would have to get this person to remove it from their server because they could run it without ads or with their own monetization.

That's my opinion anyway. I think probably this is more about ASR and the rift they created with some members of this community rather than between ASR and the developer of GoUniverse.

I would recommend that GoUniverse make it explicit that the software cannot be hosted on a website without permission. They may also wish to add some other legalese to a copyright notice to be sure everyone is clear about the developers position.

All these only remind me about the new management member of ASR who is good at marketing(or lying in this case).

Even though ASR has done nothing legally wrong, it's still kind of disrespectful and obnoxious. I have to agree with @Bonobo. Also, why do you have to register in the ASR forums as a beta tester? That's pure misdirection.



IMHO this would go against the idea of open source. It should be free for any other developer to take GoUniverse, modify it, and republish it with the requirements stated under the license (LGPL).

Some screenshot will come and reveal the mystery )

Pls see also here: ASR league seeks Beta testers for html5 browser client

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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

Did I get that right, that it would be possible to host the extension's code on an own web server and run it from there? Would be interesting for using it with an Android tablet, where the browser doesn't support extensions.

Someone is hosting it already: http://gou.coildomain.com/

I don't write software, but I know there are a lot of different licenses out there. The owner can relicense the software anytime they wish. I don't know how "open" software must be to be considered "open source" and whether it is possible to monetize it or not under a very broad open license. Still it does not change the fact that the developer owns the copyright to the software. That won't change no matter how open the licensing is.
I have seen software that was first open source and free change to a paid sub version later as it was developed and updated.

As was mentioned above, there is a such server already, but that guy/girl doesn't update it somewhy. That's why some functions doesn't work there, like a creating challenge for example. For now you can launch your server, but i wouldn't recommend that, because my app doesn't adapted to tablets and phones. I don't know why some of you guys can't wait a little bit more, when i will release a good version for tablets and phones. It's hard to say when it certainly will be, but it will be done for sure.

PS: Btw, i had waited yesterday for 8 hours an email from ASR legaue and got nothing. Asked about that LinuxGooo before i was going to sleep, he said that i should wait 1 more hour. Still no any email today. And that is what they call "We are in an intensive dialogue with the programmer" )

Oh, I didn't know that's in the works. Nevermind then.

I completely agree. I was just expressing my opinion on this subject. I wouldn't want GoUniverse to prohibit other users to host it. But of course, the developer makes all decisions himself.

No surprise from anyone that the truth isn't too important.

Excellent. After all those years buying a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 will FINALLY pay off! And no, this is not irony. I originally bought the tab to play Go on it but never wanted to pay for a client which (as far as I know) is inferior to the free online version (and just as not-nice looking as the online version). And OGS somehow didn't work for me either.. so... I'm really looking forward to this feature! <3

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Yeah, I guess support for tablets and phones is higher on my priority list than getting audio to work for lectures

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be immersed

Thank you for your work. I find it already a superior interface to CGoban and all go interfaces except GoPanda for IGS.

If I might add a very low priority ticket to your list, I find it strange that challenges by ? are below challenges by -. New players get hidden under a swarm of bots and this is not very welcoming.

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La victoire est un hasard, la défaite une nécessité.

Alternatively, if you could have a no-bot challenge list, maybe people would appreciate that.

As a side note - sorry if this was asked before - is there any way to support the project, financially or otherwise? Do you accept donations?

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La victoire est un hasard, la défaite une nécessité.

Yes he takes donations -- click the About button on the bottom of the login screen.

Thank you, I missed that - unfortunately this brings me to a Paypal page in Russian with no apparent way to change the language. I ended up sending the donation from my own Paypal account by copy-pasting his mail address. I'm mentioning this just in case you're looking to make donating easier.

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La victoire est un hasard, la défaite une nécessité.