Cease and desist from Facebook to Barinsta, a FOSS Instagram client
Hello,
At approximately 21:33 UTC July 26 2021, I have been hit with a cease & desist letter from a law firm repsenting Facebook. The letter was sent to one of my personal email address as well as Barinsta's public inbox (and as a result, it is published). In response, the source code has been taken down, and all promotional materials within my control has been adjusted to reflect the fact.
While I believe it is nearly impossible to fight a resourceful multinational firm and reinstate the app, we will still try to get as much resources as we could to navigate in this crisis.
At this dire moment, I ask you to do 1 thing: Please let others know what is happening here. Such bullying behaviour against a young university student is in no way excusable. Such bullying behaviour against many internet users is in no way excusable.
It has been an honour of a lifetime to serve as one of the main contributors of Barinsta. I am forever grateful for the countless supporters along the way.
Thank you & Best Regards,
Austin Huang https://austinhuang.me
@emacsomancer i suppose it’s to be expected while developing against big tech’s ecosystem. Not entirely surprised, but still appalled by the unreasonable demands.
@emacsomancer Oh no, Barinsta was leages ahead of the official client. I won't go back to the official one for sure, so that is the end of Instagram for me
@pluralistic @doctorow Facebook's continuing war against interoperability.