I think Github has nothing to do with all this, for two reasons:
First, because only the https://github.com/popcorn-team/popcorn-app has been removed. There are plenty of forks of the original popcorn floating around github, some of them with very recent commits (see the network timeline). It seems unlikely that github would remove just that one repo and leave all these others around.
Second, because as noted by some commenters, the website of that fork http://popcorn.cdnjd.com/ is also down. But it is not just down: the whole A/CNAME record does not exist anymore! Digging a bit deeper, you can see that the nameservers of that domain are hosted by Cloudfare.
It seems very unlikely to me that Github and Cloudfare would act so well coordinated in taking down an application and its associated resources, yet they completely ignore all those forks.
That makes me think that this is more of a personal issue. Either someone with all the keys got hacked and that's the result, or someone has been intimidated enough (through legal or other means) to shut everything down.
Anyway, time will tell. Don't start migrating all your github repos elsewhere yet ;P
I woke up this morning and everything was down. We are two developper on this project with admin right on the popcorn-team organisation. The other developper (jduncanator) is the only one with access to the web hosting.
That said, lets not speculate. I wasn't able to contact the other developer yet since he is in another timezone and probably in bed at that time.
Most likely, github has nothing to do with all that. Github staff were well aware of popcorn time and starred it many time. If they would have took down our project I think they would have took down all the forks with it. Which is not the case.
Thanks a lot Zach. I was pretty sure that Github was not involved in any way with this. Your support team has been helpfull by answering any of my question. Now I just need to deal with internal drama and get the project back...
I'm not sure when the site was updated, but it looks like it goes the way of muxtape - http://getpopcornti.me/
Edit: Looks like this was written almost a couple weeks ago (March 14th, 2014 according to the time stamp on their medium post https://medium.com/p/93f890b8c9f4)
Ya those are from the original version, that the developers shut down on March 14th. The GitHub that the OP linked is the link to the new GitHub fork that is/was under active development. Not sure what happened but the saga seems to be continuing
The great thing about open source code is that no matter how many Git repos get taken down, someone somewhere has the latest clone and can still share it. Once software is created and shared openly, there is no amount of threats or coordinated destruction of source code that will eliminate it completely.
Thought experiment: Are pulling down a server and eradicating a source repository actions we can imagine a developer performing after receiving a visit/message from a lawyer and/or FBI agents? I find that at least as likely as nefarious actions by Github. (I further postulate a well-scrubbed email cache and the sudden deletion of vast quantities of porn, but I have an active imagination.)
I prefer XBMCtorrent over Popcorn-app anyway. It even supports search from within the XBMC menu, multiple trackers, can be controlled via remote on a HTPC etc.
Unfortunately I think that this was an act of releasing pressure from multiple person(s) that are against torrenting copyrighted content. Maybe we popped the popcorn too long... burning and leaving us hungry for more. Maybe we should try a better alternative?
I haven't been super up to date with the code but yes. Lots of bugs and faster and better error handling in the newer versions. Improved for every week.
Is it against GitHub's TOS? I have a web app, http://www.moviemagnet.net, that's a movie torrent aggregator that I was going to throw up on GitHub after I wrote some integration tests. It would be shocking to me that they would remove the repo since they weren't technically serving torrents.
GitHub does not pre-screen Content, but GitHub and its designee have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to refuse or remove any Content that is available via the Service.
and
We may, but have no obligation to, remove Content and Accounts containing Content that we determine in our sole discretion are unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party's intellectual property or these Terms of Service.
That would explain it. It's remarkable how ambiguous TOSs in general are. I can see from a business perspective how Github was probably pressured from outside source, MPAA, to remove the application that could be used as a conduit to illegally download magnet links. This is such a slippery slope though...
I would say the terms are one sided (at least on this issue). I don't think they are ambiguous.
I don't think it is really a slippery slope either, there would be a bunch of new law needed to make it so that offering a platform for publication carried the obligation to publish things (a lot of it focused on protecting the service provider from liability).
Anything can be considered offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene or otherwise objectionable by some people how do you define such subjective views.
>> "It would be shocking to me that they would remove the repo since they weren't technically serving torrents."
I don't think it matters if they're serving torrents or not. The movie industry will likely sue them anyway and GitHub probably doesn't want to be involved in any way.
It's growing increasingly apparent that GitHub is not about open hosting, but a company that has no spines and a tendency towards political self-censorship.
There is no evidence that Github removed this. When they do a takedown, all of the forks disappear too. Further, if it was the result of a DMCA, they make those publicly available.
C+= was not removed for "censorship", but because the commits being done there were falsely attributed (by the repository owners) to people who didn't want their names and gravatars associated with it. Bitbucket and Google Code yanked the repo for the same reason.
If this was GitHub's doing, it's yet another reason to not use GitHub. Move your repos elsewhere because GitHub thinks that censorship is a good thing.
First, because only the https://github.com/popcorn-team/popcorn-app has been removed. There are plenty of forks of the original popcorn floating around github, some of them with very recent commits (see the network timeline). It seems unlikely that github would remove just that one repo and leave all these others around.
Second, because as noted by some commenters, the website of that fork http://popcorn.cdnjd.com/ is also down. But it is not just down: the whole A/CNAME record does not exist anymore! Digging a bit deeper, you can see that the nameservers of that domain are hosted by Cloudfare.
It seems very unlikely to me that Github and Cloudfare would act so well coordinated in taking down an application and its associated resources, yet they completely ignore all those forks.
That makes me think that this is more of a personal issue. Either someone with all the keys got hacked and that's the result, or someone has been intimidated enough (through legal or other means) to shut everything down.
Anyway, time will tell. Don't start migrating all your github repos elsewhere yet ;P