[liberationtech] Qt TorBrowser

[Brian Conley]

For anyone interested in digging into this discussion, let me suggest a
simple Google search to locate the discussion on the tor list.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&q=torbrowser+randolph+tor+cc

I'm not sure why its worth creating more noise on this list, but I suspect
the discussion will continue ad infinitum as these things are wont to do.

It seems:
A. Tor Project would like us to realize "torbrowser" is not a related
project to them. Clear.
B. Randolph is part of a team developing an alternative to the current Tor
browser bundle. He thinks this may be more secure than TBB. Clear.
C. Unless we are having a larger discussion about the risks/fallibility of
trademark copyright and authorship in a global society, what are we talking
about here?

(To be clear I'm very interested in discussing C as I have posited some of
the same concerns previously regarding our forthcoming StoryMaker. I don't
disagree Randolph's behavior is hugely problematic, but I suspect it may be
an issue of cultural misunderstanding and/or foolishness more than
malicious behavior.)
On Mar 17, 2013 10:32 AM, "Griffin Boyce" <griffinboyce at gmail.com> wrote:

> Randolph D. <rdohm321 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> > Using another developer's name is uncool
>> this has not been done, it was a placeholder one year ago and replaced,
>> as the developer denied.
>>
>
>   Between the app naming scheme, the questionable use of a developer name
> *highly similar *to an official Tor developer, use of a similar logo, and
> (most importantly) not having updated the codebase in a year, this project
> raises some serious alarm bells.
>
>   Even it wasn't intentional, that doesn't mean it isn't a huge mistake.
>  Even if it were audited, I would be hesitant to use or recommend it
> because it appears to be trying to foster confusion.
>
>   I'll be honest, I don't really accept the 'placeholder name' excuse,
> particularly since my impression is that he was the only developer for this
> project.  It would be much better to have a project titled "[Name] Browser"
> and specify that it's designed to be compatible with Tor.  Not only is it
> better for Tor, but it will help differentiate your project for users.
>
>   (Whether it leaks user info remains to be seen, but it's notoriously
> difficult to make privacy-enhancing software.  There are probably ten devs
> with IDA Pro open right now seeing whether it's full of malware =P).
>
> ~Griffin
>
> --
> "What do you think Indians are supposed to look like?
> What's the real difference between an eagle feather fan
> and a pink necktie? Not much."
> ~Sherman Alexie
>
> PGP Key etc: https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/User:Fontaine
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