Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part IV — Mr. MobileCoin: From Mono to Plagiarism... and to Unprecedented GPL Violations at GitHub (Microsoft)

Series parts:

  1. Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part I — Inside a Den of Corruption and Misogynists
  2. Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part II — The Campaign Against GPL Compliance and War on Copyleft Enforcement
  3. Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part III — A Story of Plagiarism and Likely Securities Fraud
  4. YOU ARE HERE ☞ Mr. MobileCoin: From Mono to Plagiarism... and to Unprecedented GPL Violations at GitHub (Microsoft)


GitHub: Where everything comes to die



Summary: MobileCoin, which employed a person from Team Mono (and a close associate of GitHub's CEO), has serious accusations against it; as it turns out, GitHub is now looking to make plagiarism mainstream, mostly in an effort to combat copyleft; In this introductory part we hope we can explain what's wrong with Copilot very clearly and very concisely, then use that as a cautionary tale, knowing past patterns/behaviour of those manipulative individuals who are behind Copilot

THE weekly installment of this series isn't timed for impact; it's timed to give way to the EPO series, which is a very high-impact series that will end about a week from now. Then, once done, we hope to be able to rush through with the GitHub series; we have so much to show and to cover.

"...it's no exaggeration to say -- and hard to overstate the severity of it -- that the GitHub management is a bunch of charlatans, frauds, and back-stabbing moles."Last week, in Part III, we left off after explaining misuse of funds and misuse of code. Basically, it's no exaggeration to say -- and hard to overstate the severity of it -- that the GitHub management is a bunch of charlatans, frauds, and back-stabbing moles. Those are not the same people who created and grew the company; that the new management also has a profound misogyny problem and a lack of empathy is an aspect we'll come to much later in the series. Even some Microsoft insiders are set aback, almost appalled by it. But they love money, so they continue to participate. Not a novel or a new kind of problem...

This isn't some 'low-level' issue, either; this concerns the CEO of GitHub, who just like the CEO of Microsoft has well-documented misogyny issues. The angle more interesting or relevant to us is legal and technical, though megalomania can be understood in the context of how people treat their partners; "it's in regards to Nat Friedman and his personal life," one person noted, as "from personal experience he's a misogynist".

We'll leave all that for another day or another week/month. There's a lot of material related to this. It's just as important, but we must tackle one issue at a time.

Today's focus will be MobileCoin. As Wikipedia notes under criticism: "MobileCoin has been accused of a pump and dump scheme. The integration of MobileCoin wallets into the popular security messager app Signal received criticism from security expert Bruce Schneier, who previously praised the app. Schneier stated that this would bloat the app and attract unwanted attention from the financial authorities."

"Even some Microsoft insiders are set aback, almost appalled by it."Without going into all the pertinent details (what MobileCoin is and where it came from) we'll focus on its relevance or similarity to a scenario we have with Microsoft's GitHub. As many are aware, GitHub increasingly integrates with Azure and Visual Studio, which are proprietary software with surveillance (Visual Studio Code has surveillance built in and a non-free licence). To make matters worse, Visual Studio Code -- with help from fools who still put their code in GitHub -- now flagrantly suggests GPL-licensed code under the guise of "Hey Hi" (but without any licence notices). A recipe for disaster, sure...

Co-Pilot (or CoPilot or just Copilot) is a lot smaller than GitHub, but it's important to know where it came from and why. As we noted in Part III, there may be a securities fraud aspect to it, albeit this angle will be dealt with separately as it merits further investigation and understanding of the law.

Copilot is being touted/advertised (spammed by Microsoft boosters in their sites and captured media) as exciting novelty/innovation, but it's an attack on our community, programmers, and basically an assault on GPL enforcement. It's telling people not to worry about GPL compliance because the code, which was actually written by humans, is some sort of "magic" created out of thin air.

One of the persons involved in the Copilot attack (because that's what it is -- an attack) is called Alex, who had "a run in with the Monero community," according to a former partner. "Alex also worked on MobileCoin..."

"One of the persons involved in the Copilot attack (because that's what it is -- an attack) is called Alex, who had "a run in with the Monero community," according to a former partner."What is it about? The gist: "The token attached to Signal in a way that seems unclear even to people that work at Signal" (there's information related to this, with good references, in the above-mentioned Wikipedia article).

Signal is not trustworthy, but this isn't the subject of our series. We might do a separate series about spying elements in the so-called 'crypto' community and even in some of the (self-described) "Open Source" fake 'community'...

The former partner is "aware that Copilot is scraping other people's code and compiling into a service, claiming fair use..."

At a scale such as this it is not fair use, but that's a subject for another part. The FSF has already invited essays on this matter as part of a competition with a generous reward to winners.

The short story is, Copilot is against enforcement of Free software licences. We wrote a number of articles about it in the past (along with videos and memes). It's no laughing matter and it is the foremost threat to Software Freedom. It wasn't 'pioneered' to help developers but to help Microsoft's agenda.

"The short story is, Copilot is against enforcement of Free software licences."This kind of objective "seems to be a theme for Alex," the former partner noted. As we'll explain some other time, it's the same Alex who made Tomboy, a notorious infection vector for Team Mono inside GNU/Linux distributions. There's a patent angle to be covered as well (that's another part).

Microsoft is a prolific GPL violator (it got caught many times), so eradicating the GPL-type licences is a longterm objective. Just so that people can make proprietary software and extinguish Free/libre software used to make such software, then blame "HEY HI" (AI); yes, it's a legal hack and there has not yet been a court case to test the legality of it. It's totally untested in courts and we don't suppose SFC wants to sue; SFC took money from Microsoft for two years in a row. SFC also lobbied very hard against the founder of the FSF, who came up with the GPL.

"Alex has a history with that," the former partner said. "His company Hackpad is founded on some open source work he did, Tomboy notes, [and] thing is, he forked Tomboy from another repo [and] now Alex has a bunch of document editing patents that now belong to Dropbox..."

If this is true, there's lots of explaining to do; and it's "good to confirm my suspicions of plagiarism," the former partner noted.

GitHub now does this on an unprecedented scale.

"Microsoft is a prolific GPL violator (it got caught many times), so eradicating the GPL-type licences is a longterm objective.""The Monero community is pissed at him too," the former partner recalled, as "supposedly MobileCoin plagiarized them, but MobileCoin isn't decentralized".

There was some digging around all this, asking people in the know. The former partner "also spoke to this guy [scalled] David Trowbridge, who was named in the original demand letter [...] he seemed sympathetic at first and went silent".

"Gates started Microsoft by stealing other people’s work. That’s what Microsoft still does," the former partner quotes, adding that "this quote stuck out to me, because Alex's company Hackpad, was built upon an open source project Alex forked and claimed as his own and has been accused of plagiarizing Monero during his time at MobileCoin."

At a later stage we'll show how that's connected to GitHub. There are also patents; This one is MobileCoin's.

Of note: Toby Segura/Segaran, Joshua Goldbard, and Chris Toshok... those names are relevant as "Toby Segura, Joshua Goldbard are the MobileCoin guys," we're told, and "they don't like Alex" (who is now at Microsoft).

"GitHub is no longer controlled by the people who ran it for its first decade. The mission of GitHub isn't the same, either.""Chris Toshok is a friend of Nat [Friedman] and Alex [and] he said something to the effect of Alex not being at parties for the past few years, claiming they don't hang out with him because he's "mentally ill" and everyone knows it..."

"Chris said he hadn't seen Alex at Nat's parties at his house in a few years and it was probably because Alex is crazy, which I doubt, because Nat and Alex talked on the phone when we were together and Alex had been out of SF for several years..."

Either way, it looks like there's a patch of skulduggery there. Some of the upcoming parts were already alluded to above. We expect to continue next Monday if not earlier. There's a lot more in store. Remember who controls GitHub and remember that history/track record counts (repeat offenders). GitHub is no longer controlled by the people who ran it for its first decade. The mission of GitHub isn't the same, either.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Something to Celebrate in Gemini Protocol
More capsules and users join in
 
Google News Lost the Fight to LLM Slop (While Google Itself Sells Slop, Nowadays Under the Name "Gemini")
Many people say that "Google is getting worse"; that's almost an understatement
Links 28/03/2025: AirAsia Trouble Again, UMich Culls All DEI Programs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Alexa is for Gullible People, Rant About Feature Overload
Links for the day
Intimidation, Threats, and Bullying Not Tolerated by Techrights
When it comes to our reporting, safety always comes first
The SLAPPs From the Microsoft Strangler (and Sidekick) No Better Than Patent Trolling
one must never settle with trolls
Links 28/03/2025: Last Reminder "to Delete Your 23andMe Data", "UK's First Permanent Facial Recognition Cameras Installed"
Links for the day
Microsoft Canonical Continues Its FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) Campaign, Reveals Google Too Sponsored It
They're paid-for lies from a Chinese company that takes GAFAM money to write puff pieces about them
Android Rises Above 76% in Mozambique, Leaving Windows in the Dust
Windows may soon be measured as smaller than Apple's iOS
IBM, Red Hat and Microsoft Probably Also Manipulate Metrics (It Helps Con the Shareholders)
Wall Street's credibility will depend on enforcement of "checks and balances"
Slopwatch: trendhunter.com and Other Pure Junk From "Google News"
The need to vet sources is hardly new; anyone can spew out anything, anywhere. There's a need for vetting.
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Rewatching The X-Files, Slop Concerns, and NOSTR Censorship
Links for the day
Links 28/03/2025: Australia at Risk, EPO Grants Illegal Patents With Illegal Effect
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 27, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, March 27, 2025
Links 27/03/2025: Obituary to a Shop, Russia Trying to Buy Time
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2025: Slop, Autosuggestions, and Nostr
Links for the day
Apparently Confirmed: IBM Layoffs in Canada Today, Hundreds Affected
Impacting "177 people", says one person, "in Ottawa"
When Windows Was Dominant (1990s) Browser Monopoly Meant MSIE, But Now Google Android is Dominant and the Web in a 'Webapps' Era Works With (or Is Designed for) Chrome-isms
We've been there before
Slopwatch: BetaNews, LinuxSecurity.com, and the Attack on Web Search Using Fake and Likely Plagiarised Pages
Changing a few words here and there won't change the fact that it's not properly authored
Links 27/03/2025: U.S. Honeybee Deaths Reach Record High, Legal Occupation Next in Line After War on Science
Links for the day
Using Courts for 'Revenge' is Always a Losing Strategy
Trying to cause someone you dislike to spend a lot of money
IBM CFO James Kavanaugh Refers to Firing of Almost 10,000 Americans as "Workforce Rebalancing" (Shifting IBM's Centre of Balance to Low-salary Contracts/Countries)
The scale of IBM layoffs is getting too large to evade WARN Notices
[Video] Dr. Richard Stallman's Keynote Speech in Kerala Finally Uploaded
In non-free format and proprietary YouTube, but perhaps that's better than nothing
Islands Are Leaving Microsoft Behind, According to statCounter
Android has had a very strong year
EPO Management Fails to Deny That the Office is Discriminating Against Women
Europe's second-largest institution isn't just exceedingly corrupt but also immoral
In Some Countries the Market Share of Vista 11 is Going Down, Not Up
despite being released in 2021
Rumour: Mass Layoffs in IBM Canada Today
Maybe later today some people from Canada will say something firmer and maybe some media will even talk about that
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 26, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Gemini Links 27/03/2025: X-Files' "Kill Switch", Orlando, and ASN (Autonomous System Number) 'Hack'
Links for the day
Links 26/03/2025: Healthcare Cuts and Turkey's Own "2025 Project" (Culling Opposition)
Links for the day
LLM Slopfarm: A Site's Last Incarnation Before Throwing in the Towel, Going Offline Permanently
A lot of coverage that claims to be about Finland is chatbot-generated nonsense or poorly-plagiarised work
Microsoft Canonical Pays IDG to Spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)
this seems a tad exploitative and reminds us of the time Novell kept telling companies that using anything other than SUSE was dangerous
Gemini Links 26/03/2025: GTD, Zenshuu, and Geminispace Community
Links for the day
Links 26/03/2025: Media's Failures, Arrests of Journalists, Limitations of End-to-End Encryption
Links for the day
LLM Slop (Lots of It Spewed Out by Microsoft) Versus Linux
Microsoft is a very, very evil company. It doesn't mind destroying the Web if there's a chance it'll make a buck in the process or mess up people's brains (in Microsoft's favour).
Slopfarms (Sites That Only Ever Publish LLM Slop) Are Killing Google News
pair of slopfarms still propped up by Google News
Microsoft's Serial Strangler's Law Firm Has a Long History of Fronting for People Who Do Bad and/or Illegal Things
Whose terrible idea was this?
Novell and Microsoft Apologist/Booster Bruce Byfield Writing About the FSF is a Recipe for Problems
Totally not shoehorning some agenda
Looking Forward to the Fall of UPC and Revocation of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement, Which Was Always Illegal and Unconstitutional
We'll try to keep abreast of any progress in this case
Slopwatch: Google News, LinuxSecurity.com, and the General Demise of the Web
many supposed or so-called "news" pages are just spewed out by some chatbots (or tools which help plagiarise original articles without getting caught; detection gets harder)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 25, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 25, 2025