WebUI port to another engine (MonoTorrent)

[alanmc]

Hey,

I just want to give you a heads up that there is a fresh attempt (http://www.codeplex.com/MonoTorrentWebUI) to complete a port of your WebUI to run with a different backend (MonoTorrent). The previous attempt (http://users.aber.ac.uk/anf6/projects/bcbc/) was mostly complete, but never completely finished.

So, questions I have are:

1) What license is the webui under.

2) Is it ok to replace instances of 'uTorrent' with 'MonoTorrent' in the WebUI when it is hosted on top of MonoTorrent?

3) Any other restrictions/requests you have on distribution/modification?

Can we badger you with questions if there are any problems/issues?

[Lord Alderaan]

There is no license. Basically you are only allowed to download µTorrent from the utorrent.com website and use it the way it is intended to be used. BitTorrent, Inc. reserves all rights on µTorrent and afaik that also includes the webui. Without permission you aren't allowed to copy, edit or even redistribute µTorrent or the webui.

Now there hasn't been any objection against people adjusting the webui to their needs (although BitTorrent, Inc. hasn't given permission which technically makes it illegal) but changing the webui so that it works with another client is something I think you should explicitly ask permission for because it might conflict with BitTorrent, Inc.'s interests.

On the other hand they can't really stop you unless they sue you (which ofc isn't likely)

[alanmc]

There is no license.

That's an issue for BitTorrent inc then. In certain jurisdictions if there is no explicit license, a 'public domain' license is assumed which means I can do whatever the hell I like with the WebUI with no legal recourse available to Bittorrent Inc should they decide that they don't like what I've done. So, can an explicit license be confirmed/denied for the WebUI.

Basically you are only allowed to download µTorrent from the utorrent.com website and use it the way it is intended to be used. BitTorrent, Inc. reserves all rights on µTorrent and afaik that also includes the webui.

I wasn't aware that bittorrent inc owned the webui. Can that be officially confirmed/denied. I thought the webui was a completely separate project.

Now there hasn't been any objection against people adjusting the webui to their needs (although BitTorrent, Inc. hasn't given permission which technically makes it illegal) but changing the webui so that it works with another client is something I think you should explicitly ask permission for because it might conflict with BitTorrent, Inc.'s interests.

Well, that's why I'm asking It's only illegal if they own rights on the WebUI, and it's not clear whether they do or not. And if they do, what *versions* of the UI do they own rights to. Is there a contact email (legal@bittorrent.com or something like that) that I could get in touch with to get an answer from them directly?

[Lord Alderaan]

That's an issue for BitTorrent inc then.

Read the about. There is no detailed license no but BitTorrent, Inc. does clearly state it reserves all rights.

I thought the webui was a completely separate project.

This however is a good question. No it is not a completely separate project and the core side of the webui obviously belongs to BitTorrent, Inc. but the webui.zip file is primarily developed by Directrix who is not an BitTorrent, Inc. employee. It might not fall under the same IP. But it does come as part of the µTorrent package (you could download it separately but that doesn't really imply anything). I wouldn't dare to make assumptions here without proper legal knowledge.

As to channels to the dev. There aren't many. Maybe one of the forum mods here can point a dev in this direction but on the other hand maybe the devs don't want to say anything clear on this matter. Like with the current community efforts etc there has never been a dev here explicitly saying "Yes, you are allowed to do this." What you COULD do is mail [url="http://forum.utorrent.com/profile.php?id=5718">Directrix</url>.

[alanmc]

I've fired off an email to him, hopefully I'll be able to get some solid info on the topic. Thanks for the replies so far and I'll keep you posted on what happens.

[Ultima]

Session Start: Fri Mar 28 19:00:40 2008

...

[21:34:15] <@Directrix> alus: somedude is using the webui as a front-end for his own torrent/dl manager...is this legally complicated in any way?

[21:38:10] <&alus> not particularly, as long as he isn't modifying uT

My guess is that this question was asked with regards to BCBC. IIRC, the actual UI is considered a "community project" (heh, even though I guess there's only one person doing the actual coding). The only thing it has above other UIs is that it's officially sanctioned/supported here.

So there should be nothing legally wrong with this project from BitTorrent Inc.'s perspective. Since Directrix has copyright/ownership/whatever on the code though, the final word is still up to him. I don't expect that he'd be opposed to it, but confirmation is always good

[alanmc]

[21:38:10] <&alus> not particularly, as long as he isn't modifying uT

That's what I figured alright. The WebUI is just a project which consumes the uT public API. The biggest issue is that there is no license to be found for the WebUI which makes things awkward for me when it comes to distributing it. There are certain settings which will really need to be hidden and other settings exposed. So if I can't modify the WebUI and distribute the modified version, that's gonna be a pain