OP, I’m completely convinced (sarcasm).
Have you gone barking at other rivals like Readlang (owned by duolingo). Could just as well have been them, or someone else. Or maybe it’s not even related to languages in particular, but maybe the code or libraries they were using in their software itself?
I’m sorry the software is gone. I think it’s good to have the competition as it spurs everyone to improve, but you seem to have no idea what you’re talking about. You’ve provided zero evidence, other than two sites were taken down…which isn’t even evidence of anything.
What you’re offering here is called conjecture, which is distinctly different from proof, or evidence. This whole thing started by someone spouting said conjecture on Reddit without any proof to back it up, and now it’s turning into a cybermobbing incident.
I am OP of one of the Reddit posts quoted in this thread (the “a more moderate …” one.) I continue to update that thread as new information comes in. LingQ has never been directly accused by the LWT or FLTR creators, or myself, as the instigator of whatever “legal disputes” the projects may be referring to; and the projects have not cited who the legal aggressor is. Nor will they, at this point, because their entire project pages and sources have been completely removed and now lead to 404 pages.
I have attempted to contact both projects to gain a) more information, and b) project sources for mirroring at my gitlab repository. There has been no response.
I have requested LingQ and Readlang to publicly comment. LingQ and Steve Kaufmann hav responded to Twitter post questions and these forums with what appears to be a genuine lack of knowledge. I have not received or been able to locate a response from ReadLang. Neither company has issued a direct statement, whether that be a denial of responsibility, or statement of solidarity and poo-poo-shame-on-you directed at whoever brought trouble to these projects.
Neither LingQ or Readlang has responded to the question of whether they, too, have received legal threat.
Those interested in the LWT software should seek my Reddit post in /r/languagelearning “a more moderate …” where I have shared a link to a code mirror. Also, that reddit thread is where I am posting information updates as I am able to determine them. As much as is possible, I am quoting first-party or otherwise authoritatively verifiable sources.
There is also what seems like a knee jerk assumption by a lot of people that L WT was not at fault of any kind in the legal case they are referring to. It is entirely possible that they were in fact using some kind of patent or other material — software code etc. that was under some protection. We simply do not have sufficient information about what happened to make these accusations against LingQ or anyone else.
The accusations against LingQ stem mostly from somewhat ambiguous language in the original notice from LWT in the way LinqQ was recommended as an alternative.
You are correct in that we lack sufficient information to draw any conclusions, or even speculation, as to the extent LWT or FLTR may have legitimately, with or without foreknowledge, infringed on somebody else’s intellectual property, or utilized a service without authorization.
However, in my long-time use of LWT(1), I find it unlikely. All 3rd party software or software libraries used by LWT are open-source and their licenses are separately and individually referenced without claim of ownership right by LWT. 3rd party services of, for example, dictionaries or typefaces and fonts are configurable by each user and not the LWT software. While the software enables use, it does not itself establish use, which should free the software of any possible IP liability in that regard(2).
(1) LWT can be run in a VM on my local computer so I do not need internet access to use it, unlike LingQ or ReadLang. I spend weeks and months at sea without network access, so this feature is vital if I wish to use this method of language training.
(2) I am not a lawyer and do not write this with any authority. It is personal opinion and conjecture.
Just as a practical advice, in case it helps, if you’re out at sea without internet, you could use a Kindle with built in dictionary as well as — or in combination with — comparative reading NL/TL editions of the same book and get great results. That’s what I would do in your case — and in fact that’s what I used to do before I started using LingQ. Apps like L WT and others add speed, convenience, and progress tracking to the process, but their effects are reproducable by other means.
@seanmcd33 wrote:
Not to mention that the OP even insulted users who asked for more evidence calling them “sycophants”.
OP seems to suffer from a serious case of internet moral panic, along the lines of
Scumbag human reporting in and awaiting further evidence to pass judgment. Meanwhile, I just renewed my subscription. Excited for 5.0 and new languages.
Surely this is more of an indication that Lingq was not behind the shutdown. If a rival would shut me down, I would not make an advertisement for him in my shutdown note.
