I think that until somebody shows that Copilot is willing to copy distinctive code fragments verbatim, unprompted, with a high occurrence rate, I'm not going to start accusing Github of building an engine to cynically exploit the IP rights of open source copyright holders for profit. I've seen no evidence of that, and in absence of evidence I prefer to remain neutral and open-minded.
How would that work, anyway? Rare, distinctive code forms seem much more difficult for an ML thing to suggest with a high-ish confidence level, since there won't be much training data. The Quake thing makes sense because it's one of the most famous sections of code in the world, and probably exists in thousands of places in the public Github corpus.
I'm emphasizing distinctive because a lot of boilerplate takes up a lot of room, but still doesn't make a reasonable argument for copyright infringement when yours looks like somebody else's.
It looks like you're responding to the wrong comment. I don't recall alleging that Github is "building an engine to cynically exploit the IP rights of open source copyright holders for profit".
> I think only Github's lawyers would interpret what GP posted the way you did. Looks like weasel wording to make such an interpretation possible,
So what are you suggesting here, except that Github is attempting a legal sleight-of-hand to hide real infringement?
> while making customers believe that code is more or less synthesized in realtime.
What are you suggesting here except that Github is (essentially) lying to customers, making them believe something that is substantially untrue?
When I say "building an engine to cynically exploit the IP rights of open source copyright holders for profit", I am talking about a scenario in which they are sweeping legitimate IP concerns under the rug with bad faith legal weaselry and misrepresentation of how the product functions, etc., to chase profit. I do not see how that is substantially different from the implications of your comment, especially in the context of this subthread.
Could you enlighten me as to how your intended meaning substantially differs from my interpretation? If you don't mean to accuse Github of malfeasance, we probably don't have much to discuss.
How would that work, anyway? Rare, distinctive code forms seem much more difficult for an ML thing to suggest with a high-ish confidence level, since there won't be much training data. The Quake thing makes sense because it's one of the most famous sections of code in the world, and probably exists in thousands of places in the public Github corpus.
I'm emphasizing distinctive because a lot of boilerplate takes up a lot of room, but still doesn't make a reasonable argument for copyright infringement when yours looks like somebody else's.