Audio editor Audacity denies spyware accusation
Zoe Kleinman,
BBC News,
Jul 08, 2021
Don't expect an alternative open source version of Audacity to quickly emerge after the manager of a fork resigned after being harassed by 4chan users. Audacity was created at Carnegie Mellon University in 1999 and though it was contributed to open source in 2000, a private entity called Audacity Team retained ownership of the trademark and source code, and it was this entity that sold the rights (for an undisclosed amount of money) to Muse.
The managers of Audacity are denying claims that the music editing application contains spyware, saying it is working "to more clearly communicate" its licensing terms. But sceptics have good reason to doubt this response. As reported on podnews, "the app was 'acquired' by Muse Group, a company based in Cyprus, in May; they attempted to add analytics through Google and Yandex, but reversed that decision. They have also requested open-source developers sign a license agreement to contribute new code." And now the intent is to share is to analytics data with their company in Kaliningrad, Russia. So it is necessary to parse carefully Muse's statement that they will pass along user data "if compelled by a court of law in a jurisdiction that we serve."
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