Damus
Cory Doctorow profile picture
Cory Doctorow
@Cory Doctorow
An interesting stunt: Malus.sh will take your money and in exchange it will ingest any free/open source code you want, refactor that code using an LLM, and spit out a "clean room" version that is freed from all the obligations imposed by the original project's software license:

https://www.404media.co/this-ai-tool-rips-off-open-source-software-without-violating-copyright/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter

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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/23/poison-pill/#kobayashied

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Domestic Supply :verified: · 12w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqhykucplphuhelaxutcw4jw3vuu7gcg42czhqmk7jhchs8vdga4fschugpy I anticipate thousands of "clean room" versions of open source software that will be unmaintained from the moment they are created. Short term gain for the people doing this will become ...
Clayfoot · 12w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqhykucplphuhelaxutcw4jw3vuu7gcg42czhqmk7jhchs8vdga4fschugpy Malus.sh says it returns code with corporate-friendly licensing, but it can't be, right? As affirmed by recent ruling, an AI-produced work has no copyright protection in the U.S., becaus...
Bandersnatch · 12w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqhykucplphuhelaxutcw4jw3vuu7gcg42czhqmk7jhchs8vdga4fschugpy Great essay. Corporate America has a lot more to lose from this tool than the Free Software community. Now every single corporate hack can result in their Golden Goose being freed, ...
Faraiwe · 12w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqhykucplphuhelaxutcw4jw3vuu7gcg42czhqmk7jhchs8vdga4fschugpy TL;DR Product: https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/116/454/269/743/631/445/original/0845c681fce0361f.png