GitHub has removed a repository containing Twitter’s proprietary source code after it filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) takedown request. The repository was created by a user called “FreeSpeechEnthusiast,” and the username appears to be a direct mockery of Elon Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutist.”
Twitter’s DMCA takedown notice asked GitHub to provide the code submitter’s “upload/download/access history,” contact information, IP addresses, and any session information or “associated logs related to this repo or any forks” associated with “FreeSpeechEnthusiast.”
“The DMCA Subpoena is directed to service provider GitHub,” Twitter’s request for a subpoena said. “GitHub operates a website to which the infringing party or parties (identified by their GitHub username as FreeSpeechEnthusiast) posted various excerpts of Twitter source code, which posting infringes copyrights held by Twitter in those materials,” it said.
An internal investigation at Twitter suggested that the individuals responsible for the leak had left the company last year and Twitter’s executives only recently became aware of the source code leak.
It remains unclear which part of Twitter’s source code was leaked on GitHub or for how long the code was available. GitHub’s DCMA takedown blog only mentioned the removal of a repository containing “Proprietary source code for Twitter’s platform and internal tools.” GitHub did not clarify whether any users had access to the repository before its removal.
The incident comes just before March 31, when Elon Musk is expected to open-source Twitter’s algorithm used to recommend tweets, a promise he has been making for some time now.
The sources for this piece include an article in TechCrunch.