LGPL violation/Missing references to ethereumj project

[freddy36]

It's very obvious that java-tron is based on the ethereumj project. E.g. compare these two files (Just a random example out of many): https://github.com/tronprotocol/java-tron/blob/develop/src/main/java/org/tron/datasource/leveldb/LevelDbDataSource.java https://github.com/ethereum/ethereumj/blob/develop/ethereumj-core/src/main/java/org/ethereum/datasource/leveldb/LevelDbDataSource.java

AFAIK this is violation of the LGPL (ethereumj) license because you didn't mention that java-tron has been derived from the ethereumj project.

You might want to get your licensing right. Copying someones work without giving them proper credits is at leased considered very bad practice in the open source community (ignoring any legal aspects of this because I'm not a lawyer).

[olibaron]

The thing is this. Tron is a very hyped erc20 coin. The market value right now is 4 billion bucks and the team should have enough funds to develop something special. It is really weird that a team with access to this amount of money does not have anything substantial in their repositories. The people behind TRON say that they have a lot of development capacity. This repository says otherwise. The code in this repo can be made by one single person within a short timespan.

What makes it even worse is that large parts of the code in this repository has been COPIED without giving credits to the original developers and without saying that this code has been COPIED. This will give a false impression to any person, let alone investor, that there is some heavy coding going on. A big red flag. I really hope that the general public will pick up on this. There are a lot people who have invested their savings in this and they should know that these practices are taking place

[JohnnyQQQQ]

The cryptohash directory could be replaced by an import of https://github.com/sfuhrm/saphir-hash

[Dustymcp]

Copy pasting is ok but atleast keep the licenses, if you are using code from anywhere you dont fuck with the license!

[Avamander]

I'd love to see the repository hit with a DMCA.

[tomsej]

Ok, guys, too much drama here. First version of tron-java was published on Github about 27 days ago and license was added in this commit - https://github.com/tronprotocol/java-tron/commit/af167ac892170c839a4394f578a95c53576ad487#diff-472a6d957e5426d4236721b013050c53. It is definitely auto-generated by IDE and probably some junior developer. Yes, it is not professional (and a lot of repos on Github are doing same mistake), but you know - it happens.

[olibaron]

Yes it happens. But your are forgetting that this is not just some hobby project. It is pathetic to see that the only thing here is this repo. It is a $4 BILLION project...

[ghost]

is this the first time code has been stolen like this

[nukec]

no fud, no exposure. more fud, more exposure.

typical development cycle of most developers:

1. problem appears
2. google for solution
3. implement by copy pasting
4. "look boss i did it, i'm god where's promotion"

and yet people complain about forgetting to remove auto-generated license commenting in this early stage.

[philiparthurmoore]

If the original problem raised in #25 has been fixed, this thread needs to be closed. If it has not been fixed, this thread needs to remain open and fixed.

GitHub is not a place to air your bag HODLing grievances. It's a place to raise legitimate code issues. Please, for the love of god, go back to Twitter with the nonsense.

Questions:

1. @tronfoundation Has this issue been resolved?
2. If not, when can we expect a resolution?
3. Are there any other code repositories you're working on that are private or is this the official repository that we should be viewing to keep up with your work?
4. Can you give us a little more guidance about who the primary developers are for this project so that they can weigh in and make corrections?

Thanks.

[ruchernchong]

@philiparthurmoore the best reply of the whole thread.

[zealthio]

@philiparthurmoore I second that. Leave it on twitter or Reddit BITCHES! They said sorry, wont happen again. Let them get on with the job.

[bulrush15]

Developer here. @georgemickael-b wholesale copying of licensed software, even open source software, without abiding by the license is not common where I'm from in the US. Maybe in India or China yes, but not in the US. It's ok to copy a few lines of code provided in a help forum, but not whole libraries and remove the license itself.

[githubbrunob]

@bulrush15 maybe they want to evolve the libraries, and therefore liability (e.g., in case of failure) should not go to the original authors.

[georgemickael-b]

@bulrush15 Sorry about you stereotypes. While you are thinking baselessly that following license is based on geography , my emphasis was , it is inevitable. If you had built/building an company and not working for a company , you would know this. My point was to , get over the issue. Stop crying and focus on next milestone. You are not going to get everything right the first day. This section is for reporting issues and getting to solve it. Not a platform for personal/racist criticism. Be and act professional.

[fragamemnon]

Ther's nothing personal and nothing racist about his statement.

Even your example of starting up your own company is not applicable, since we are talking about a project worth billions, not a few thousand dollars.

[Namzhil]

weak shit.

[lostick]

awful thread, but what do you expect from blockchain devs who copy/paste code and remove licenses really...

[olibaron]

It says is enough that nobody of the supposed "40 devs" made the effort to reply to this thread......

[SparK-Cruz]

Intelectual property is bullshit, good evening.

[jtreal]

Removing the license took time so any defence of this act stating they lacked time is just baloney. Forget copyright etc.. The problem is they are taking credit for other people's work and trying to cover it up.

[joem789]

Too many people born into entitlement thinking they own their own ideas. To you copying is stealing. To others copying is reproducing something to learn from it. When an American copies a software program it becomes "reverse engineering" for some reason. I think all you lurkers should stay off here and let work get done peacefully. Try Googling China and Plagiarism and learn something about a culture that's not your own. Maybe then you will understand what is really happening here. Either you can be supportive or sit around and whine about things not suiting your ideas. Leave them alone. There are plenty of developers here who are being supportive and volunteering their time and efforts. Nobody needs you complainers here slowing down progress. The obstacles that are in place can be and will be overcome with a little more time. Give it a chance.

[ruchernchong]

This thread has gone way off topic and off the actual purpose of an issue on Github. The collaborators or owner of this repo should just lock and limit the conversation to the contributors for quality discussion.

[ahivarn]

So many major coins are forks of Bitcoin or similar currencies. That's open-source philosophy. Only issue here is the lack of attribution to proper sources.

The biggest issue with Tron is the excessive dumping happening as showing in Ether scan. Can @tronfoundation explain what's actually happening with people dumping hundreds of millions of coin at once

[Gomachi]

@joem789 Your statements and "arguments" sound like a string of horrid jokes. I know you hold a sizeable amount of their shit tokens, but come on. If you're going to make an attempt at an argument, as least make it slightly reasonable and involving less straight up stupidity.

Too many people born into entitlement thinking they own their own ideas. To you copying is stealing. To others copying is reproducing something to learn from it. When an American copies a software program it becomes "reverse engineering" for some reason.

Apparently, you have no idea what 'copying' means in this context. First of all, we're not dealing with ideas here. Ethereum is an IMPLEMENTATION of an idea, not an idea. There's a difference between stealing an implementation (literally copy/paste source code) vs copying an idea. H.U.G.E .. DIFFERENCE. There's a reason why there are things called patents, intellectual property, and billions of dollars in IP lawsuits every year by companies.

If your "logic" was true, every company would be stealing from each other blatantly and indiscriminately, and nothing could be done.

The 'copying' you are trying to (and fail) to refer to is when a company sees a product that is gaining a lot of traction, and says "hey, we could create a product with pretty much the same features. Let's do it." Ahem, Instagram Stories features being derived from Snapchat.

It has absolutely nothing to do with "I'm just going to copy and paste code from some other codebase and claim it as my own. Herpa Derp."

Try Googling China and Plagiarism and learn something about a culture that's not your own. Maybe then you will understand what is really happening here.

Are ... you seriously trying to justify this by pulling some kind of nonsensical "culture" card?

"Let them be! It's their culture! Learn more about their plagiaristic culture and you'll then respect what the Tron team has done."

Whether or not plagiarism itself is rampant throughout China, you talk about it as if it's something that's good and should be revered. Wat?

Nobody needs you complainers here slowing down progress.

When that progress is copy/pasta code from other codebases and claiming it as your own, you better bet your butt people are going to complain.

The obstacles that are in place can be and will be overcome with a little more time. Give it a chance.

What? Do you stray onto a different topic? It sounds like you're now addressing people who are pissed about ... slow development time? I don't see how this has anything to do with anything that was stated prior.

[joem789]

I guarantee your grandmother copied a recipe from a book and called it her own. Her special touches made it her own. But still copied nevertheless. When 3M company glue patent ran out, many companies copied it to make innovative products better than 3M! That's innovation in the name of plagiarism! It's all in how you look at it. Furthermore. It amazes me at how many people cry plagiarism in an open source community. Sounds pretty hypocritical. I am an American. And the first to admit our society is one of a sense of entitlement where we get to own ideas. Which is worthy of a joke. Because you cannot own intelligence. I grew up copying everything everyone did to get good at adapting and overcoming challenges. If people had hovered around me during that time, they would have been complaining cause I stole their ideas. Can anyone prove that Alibaba wasn't plagiarized to become the product it is? Why not? After all, Asia seems to copy everything. And somehow, they still dominate the world with their products. Products that YOU are thankful for every day because of the cheap prices.

I personally see this TRON project as something more than coding and crypto dogs. I see it as a collaboration between East and West and a chance to tear down cultural carriers that exist. Finding a new common ground. But this isn't about Asia assimilating to American culture. It is about both sides re-evaluating their beliefs. There's a helluva lot that needs to change just on the American side.

[jtreal]

@joem789 professional developers see through that poor attempt at a strawman fallacy. This is just a slap on the wrist but it seems to be exposing awful ethics and a lot of red flags. Then again Alibaba is a copy of ebay/amazon lest we forget so who is really surprised by this behaviour. I'd be more concerned by the lack of activity and real work done so far than defending this violation.

[kemargrant]

[ac-opensource]

@wongjustin99 Submitted a fix: https://github.com/tronprotocol/java-tron/pull/65

[twixr]

@joem789 I guarantee your grandmother copied a recipe from a book and called it her own.

But she never publicly "released" it under her own name, does she?

[jameslouiz]

I think people are missing the point and saying its okay to copy code. The main point is they have lied about it and tried to cover it up which raises more questions about the legitimacy of the project and the capability of the team.

What other shady tactics are happening that we can't see?

Also, @joem789 you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

[ghost]

Never expected this from TRON

[lastbattle]

WELCOME TO CHINA!!!! JUST COPY. Who gives a shit about licenses?

[Abiraminfo]

Bidu a successful Chinese search engine company is a copy of Google. QQ Chinese social networking company is a copy of Facebook. Huawei is a successful Chinese copycat of Cisco . Xiomi is a successful Chinese copycat of iPhone . Wechat is a Chinese copycat of WhatsApp. Alibaba itself is an extremely successful copycat of eBay .

So being a Chinese copycat could as well means success. China doesn't allow foregin companies taking strong root within it's borders. If China wants to allow a crypto currency to operate in China, it might as well be TRON ! Don't be surprised, it's a huge market on it's own and copyright doesn't matter there 😂

[bdm123]

Copying and stealing code is different than copying a business model.

What a shit show this is going to be. Good luck on the grenade launch. LOL 😂

[ruchernchong]

@tronfoundation @sasaxie I think this issue should be locked and limited to members and collaborators only.