Androidacy - not so happy with them relisting my modules

[stylemessiah]

Dunno about others, just im not too happy about them listing my modules, and inserting ads at the end of my readme files (the i icon on their site) or in the pre download page

They have been instructed to remove my modules

In short they can get f#$%ed....

[stylemessiah]

Heres the message i left them on like every method i could find...

Please immediately remove my module from your "Magisk Modules Repository" my module is the GPay SQLite Fix Module, my module author name is 73sydney and my github username is stylemessiah. You do not have permission to try and redistribute my work, and esepcially because youre inserting ads at the end of my README.MD when displayed on your site, AND the predownload page, and trying to monetize my work, which ive never monetized. This is highly insulting and bordering on fraudulent. Remove at once! The ONLY official repo carrying my work and authorised to do so is the Magisk Alt Repo, where i CHOSE to list my work. Do NOT list any modules by 73sydney.

[stylemessiah]

Rather than respond, they decided to block me on telegram, their website etc.

So clearly theyre just using others work to try and make money.....

So be aware folks.....

I will probably take my work down completely this weekend unless they delist my modules, ill be buggered if someone else is going to try and make money off things im not making money off because ive always approached it as a community thing....

[stylemessiah]

From them:

You will find your statements to be quite incorrect. As your work is licensed under GPLv2 we have every right to rehost your work as we see fit. I advise you not to use such a copyleft license if you want to prevent that.

You are also incorrect that we are monetizing your module. We generically monetize the website, and the information displayed upon it. We have a right to monetize our website, but we would agree that directly monetizing your work would be wrong of us.

We automatically scrape the magisk Modules Repository and the Alt repo, which is where we got your module from. There is no opt-out mechanism as this is done automatically.

Nonetheless, rest assured the zip delivered from the site has been in no way tampered with, for our benefit or anyone else's. In addition, another admin made the decision to remove you from the group, likely because of the rather rude way you approached this.

AND

The module will not be removed from our website, and your ban will not be removed. You have no genuine claim.

And so i will be removing all my modules immediately from the Alt Repo

Pricks.....

[stylemessiah]

My modules are now offline, repos deleted

They wont be back as long as those pricks are scraping repos and monetizing others work, under the guise of "we dont monetize the modules, we monetize our website" - theyre directly inserting ads at ends of READMEs..."

[stylemessiah]

Example of the issue, for clarity

[Fox2Code]

Allowing Androidacy to show ads was part of the agreement I had when agreeing to implement the Androidacy repo. (So no add blocking on the app side, but you can still try system wide ad blocking)

Androidacy needs to make money to be able to run in the long term, adding ads on Androidacy side is mainly to cover hosting costs.

Also you are not forced to post your module on Androidacy in any way.

I will contact the team to let them know of your wish to remove your modules unless you change your mind.

[Fox2Code]

Please also note my manager prefer using the Alt-Repo, then Androidacy, and at last the "Official" Magisk repo in the latest dev version.

Please join telegram for more info: https://t.me/Fox2Code_Chat

Also if you wish to post your modules in a more secure way, i can still make some adjustments to the app, if you wish, as long as it is not too much work for me.

[stylemessiah]

Allowing Androidacy to show ads was part of the agreement I had when agreeing to implement the Androidacy repo. (So no add blocking on the app side, but you can still try system wide ad blocking)

Androidacy needs to make money to be able to run in the long term, adding ads on Androidacy side is mainly to cover hosting costs.

Also you are not forced to post your module on Androidacy in any way.

I will contact the team to let them know of your wish to remove your modules unless you change your mind.

I appreciate you taking the time to explain (as i have been grateful for all your replies).

Im not laying this at your feet, its clear they were scraping the repo before i was even aware Fox MM was a thing, so its by no means down to you. I merely posted as i was sure there may be others, though i dont claim to speak on anyones behalf, who arent/werent aware they were doing what theyre doing, and im sure other may take a similarly dim view of how and what theyre doing...some of us have spent years creating and maintaining modules in a community spirit.

Its a REALLY poor thing to take the work of others who have made a choice to donate their work as a community project, and then use that to monetize.....

At this point, knowing their really poor attitude, exposed in telegram and noted above, theyre just going to continue to scrape any repo they can find, so i wont be putting my modules back on any repo, and i had more to come that i had never shared. I may just attach a new release of the main module (the Gpay one) in my XDA signature and post there when its updated. Im certainly not going to make it easy for those clowns to try and profit off my generosity (and indirectly BostonDans generosity, for letting me repackage his method into an easy to use format to assist others int he XDA community). Especially like how they called me rude when the first word i used in contact was Please...

They have a rotten "we'll just do what we want;' attitude. As others have experienced, raise a query with them on Telegram and they just ban you. Nice...not who i want in my community.

I hope it comes back to bite them, i dont often wish people ill, but ill make an exception for that lot...

Again, not your fault, i only discovered it via you mentioning their repo, but that doesnt reflect on you

You have been exceptionally helpful answering queries and bug reports, take care, stay safe

[Fox2Code]

Also closing because it is not related to the code of the app, but feel free to reply as anyone can still comment in closed issues.

[stylemessiah]

Meanwhile, theres this, because i warned them to expect backlash

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/androidacy-com-theyre-trying-to-monetize-your-modules-your-work.4397385/

Im not even half done with them.....

[stylemessiah]

Just thought id add this to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the thieving mongrels known as Androidacy, the same people who told me i had no claim to how my module was listed on their repo...they expressly told me i didnt have to give them permission...

From their own FAQ's....

**FAQs Can I add my module(s)?

Of course! As long as you are the developer or have explicit permission from the developer of the module, we welcome applications. Head over to the applications page to apply!**_

[Fox2Code]

I will talk with Androidacy about that, someone else probably posted your module claiming you allowed them to.

[stylemessiah]

No, they outright said to me they " We automatically scrape the magisk Modules Repository and the Alt repo, which is where we got your module from. There is no opt-out mechanism as this is done automatically. " and that i had no claim to ask them to remove my module

Its in my earlier message in this thread here, its copy & paste from their message to me on Telegram before they banned me.

https://github.com/Fox2Code/FoxMagiskModuleManager/issues/47#issuecomment-1027642512

By the way thats how they "deal" with you, tell you they will do what they want, and then ban you. Other people have mentioned their attitude in your issues threads

They called me rude when i started my sentence "please remove my modules", and then banned me.....

Like i said, im not done with them

On Sun, 6 Feb 2022 at 01:12, Fox2Code @.***> wrote:

I will talk with Androidacy about that, someone else probably posted your module claiming you allowed them to.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Fox2Code/FoxMagiskModuleManager/issues/47#issuecomment-1030632179, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ACO4RXMV6LWEG644X5YSD7LUZUV6NANCNFSM5NLFDMMA . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub.

You are receiving this because you modified the open/close state.Message ID: @.***>

[Fox2Code]

I will ask them to allow creator to opt-out in their module.prop by doing something like allowAndroidacy=false.

Even tho there is a lot of hatred in your messages, I see and understand clearly what you want.

[stylemessiah]

I am sorry i seem to have inadvertently put you in the middle of this, part of me wishes id never stumbled onto their website. I had no idea you had any affiliation until after you mentioned your deal with them after i posted on the issues board mentioning what they were up to.

Its sad that you are now contemplating putting in a module.prop flag to try and accommodate both parties. Really if they werent mishandling others works for their own game, none of this would be necessary, i dont like drama, and im sure you dont either.

From my side i think the centralised repo thing has been soured by them and so dont go adding to your workload on my account, ill probably find my own way of providing my modules at some point, possibly self hosted and behind a captcha to deter that sort of scraping behaviour. Aside said from the beginning, its not just an objection for my own work being misused, its that i just packaged the original works of a senior XDA member, who i asked if it was okay to package, before i did so. Add to that other senior XDA members contributed to the module. I just did some scripting and packaging, arguably the least amount of work in the module. so i feel responsible to the others. Dont spend any more time trying to make two opposing views on how work should be handled fit into your app and repo. Im sure you have enough to do.

Its funny, i hadnt used the module myself in nearly a year, and some of the contributors had also started to see the need (on our devices and running later versions of magisk than some people have access to) decline, to the point where i was joking about counting down the days until it died. Wasnt until i pulled the repo i found out how many people actually rely on it, due to be on devices not supported by later magisk versions that make it unnecessary on my and others devices. Barely an hour ago, another email form someone telling me how their device community relies on it, saying they kept a copy (of an older version) of the module, and could they post it for their devices thread. I directed them to the original modules thread on XDA (where its gotten most of its downloads for years) and sent him the latest versions attached to my reply as well. Im not looking to control access to it, im looking for people to respectfully use it.

I can tell you ive had a number of similar polite emails since taking the repo offline, and those people arent in any way angry and support me doing so.

I know its not a super fun position for you to be in, so please know that im sorry youre in the middle a bit.

As always, thanks for taking the time to be thoughtful and write a message

[stylemessiah]

For completeness, there was a response to my continued concerns over at XDA today, and ill link the post below. For once we dont have a rude Telegram moderator who bans you outright at raising an issue there, we have someone apparently more senior, who has formed a proper response and sounds willing to resolve concerns, they have already informed in that post that the Telegram moderator responsible for a lot of carnage (by banning people who question them) has been stood down for the time being. They say they will work to make it easier for authors to request takedowns and for those to be honoured.

For the full text:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/androidacy-com-theyre-trying-to-monetize-your-modules-your-work.4397385/post-86383595

Please ignore the moderator in that thread doing his best to bully me :)

For me this is a step in the right direction and resolves my initial concern and issue, and i have conveyed this

My modules may return to a repo, perhaps the alt-repo in the near future

[Fox2Code]

Yeah, there was a lot of discussion in private, I told them taking down modules wasn't about legality but respect.

Also there are now simple rules for modules repo to make sure this doesn't happen again. (See #59)

If you send me your telegram account I can unban you, or you can join my chat here: https://t.me/Fox2Code_Chat

My chat is not about being serious, so no strict rules, and a very low risk of ban for you.

[androidacy-user]

Yeah, there was a lot of discussion in private, I told them taking down modules wasn't about legality but respect.

Also there are now simple rules for modules repo to make sure this doesn't happen again. (See #59)

If you send me your telegram account I can unban you, or you can join my chat here: https://t.me/Fox2Code_Chat

My chat is not about being serious, so no strict rules, and a very low risk of ban for you.

I already personally lifted the ban myself from the Androidacy group and they were never banned from your group.

[stylemessiah]

Cheers for your work on this in the background, while i was pouring burning oil on everything, which is all i could do since they completely cut off any method of trying anything else.

It is appreciated

I will re-establish my original repo for the time being, and at some point consider adding it back to the alt-repo

Thanks again