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Google recently released the Android automation project named Google Artemis. However, an open-source team accuses Google of violating license requirements. They failed to attribute the open-source project mobile-use and its developers properly. Furthermore, code commit records reveal a disturbing trend. The original code included the original author information. Yet, Google deliberately deleted this data through subsequent commits. They then changed the author to someone else entirely.
Open Source Requires Proper Attribution
The Minitap team released the mobile-use project under the Apache 2.0 license. This license allows others to use, modify, and redistribute the codebase. However, users must retain applicable copyright and attribution notices under specific conditions. They must also document any modifications made to the original code.
Early versions of the Google Artemis TOML configuration file actually listed the mobile-use version number. They also included the original project authors. Unfortunately, replacement versions in the Google repository later deleted these original names. They replaced them with other individuals. The Minitap team detailed this clearly unethical practice in a post stating I expected better from Google.
Google Restores Copyright After Discovery
The Minitap team submitted formal feedback to the Google Artemis project regarding this issue. They officially accused Google of unethical behavior. Consequently, Google updated the repository README file with a new statement. It now acknowledges that the project contains source code developed by Minitap. However, the feedback from Minitap currently remains open. Google has not yet provided any official response.
In their feedback, the original team demanded specific corrective actions. They asked Google to add a direct link to the mobile-use project. They also requested the complete restoration of relevant copyright and attribution information. Finally, they wanted a clear list of the original contributors involved in the reused code. Additionally, members submitted a community pull request to restore this information. Thus far, Google has not merged this pull request. Moreover, no Google team members have responded to the feedback or reviewed the submitted changes.
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