> When the KiCad Project formally became a registered project under the Linux Foundation, we attempted to secure the rights to the original domain name from Dick without success.
> In the meantime, Digikey Corporation purchased the kicad.org domain name from squatters and donated it to the KiCad Project.
It’s too bad they didn’t start migrating to the kicad.org domain name earlier. Changing domains is always hard but they should have started the migration at first signs of trouble with the old domain holder, not after he had sold it away.
> The former project lead refused to surrender the domain names
We actually offered to purchase the domain names from him. We don't know how much he sold them for but we were not given the chance to bid against whoever eventually bought them.
We migrated in 2020. The post is badly worded. We updated the vast majority of links in our control at the time. Third party links however are always a pita.
The forums have always been user ran projects. Chris setup the kicad.info forum about 5 years ago. I personally doubt Chris will go rogue, he has been preaching kicad for far too long, I would say he has well and truely "drank the kool-aid" (Not the correct term, but was the first term that came to mind, what I mean is that he is extremely passionate about the project so I don't see him doing it any harm.), but I see your point that the forums could be another point of failure as they are user ran.
In case it's helpful, here's the first paragraph from the post:
"The original KiCad domain name (kicad-pcb.org) was recently sold to an unnamed third party that is not affiliated with the KiCad Project or members of the KiCad Development Team. This sale was unexpected and may pose a risk to KiCad users. The new owners may simply post advertisements or (worst-case scenario) they may host malicious versions of the KiCad software for download."
> they may host malicious versions of the KiCad software for download
Imagine someone using this as an attack vector to smuggle in exfiltration appliances in the form of hardware circuits in the KiCad software itself, so that the generated PCB files contain spyware in hardware form.
That would be a first of its kind: Supply chain attack at hardware level.
> When the KiCad Project formally became a registered project under the Linux Foundation, we attempted to secure the rights to the original domain name from Dick without success.
And then
> Please do not contact Dick about this. He cannot undo the damage at this point
There's got to be more to this story. What happened?
Searching for "kicad", "kicad pcb" or "kicad-pcb" on DDG, Google, Bing and Brave, only Brave still shows a link to kicad-pcb.org on the first page, so the campaign seems to be going in the right direction
What about trademark issues? E.g. if I buy coca-cola.net (assuming Coca-Cola forgot to register that domain) and use it to sell watered-down Coca-Cola (or software with adware tacked-on..), doesn't Coca-Cola have a valid case against me?
What if I don't sell watered-down cola, but Pepsi? Would they still have a case, and could the resolution of that case include me losing the domain?
You would 100% certainly lose the domain. However every other trademark in the world is weaker then Coke. KiCAD are working on having the best software not the best lawyers.
[+] [-] PragmaticPulp|4 years ago|reply
DigiKey is the real hero of this story:
> When the KiCad Project formally became a registered project under the Linux Foundation, we attempted to secure the rights to the original domain name from Dick without success.
> In the meantime, Digikey Corporation purchased the kicad.org domain name from squatters and donated it to the KiCad Project.
It’s too bad they didn’t start migrating to the kicad.org domain name earlier. Changing domains is always hard but they should have started the migration at first signs of trouble with the old domain holder, not after he had sold it away.
[+] [-] sethhillbrand|4 years ago|reply
We actually offered to purchase the domain names from him. We don't know how much he sold them for but we were not given the chance to bid against whoever eventually bought them.
[+] [-] alangibson|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] delfinom|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Tomte|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Crosseye_Jack|4 years ago|reply
The annoucment is also on the kicad.org domain. https://www.kicad.org/blog/2021/10/Avoid-links-to-former-kic...
[+] [-] dplarson|4 years ago|reply
"The original KiCad domain name (kicad-pcb.org) was recently sold to an unnamed third party that is not affiliated with the KiCad Project or members of the KiCad Development Team. This sale was unexpected and may pose a risk to KiCad users. The new owners may simply post advertisements or (worst-case scenario) they may host malicious versions of the KiCad software for download."
[+] [-] cookiengineer|4 years ago|reply
Imagine someone using this as an attack vector to smuggle in exfiltration appliances in the form of hardware circuits in the KiCad software itself, so that the generated PCB files contain spyware in hardware form.
That would be a first of its kind: Supply chain attack at hardware level.
[+] [-] willvarfar|4 years ago|reply
And then
> Please do not contact Dick about this. He cannot undo the damage at this point
There's got to be more to this story. What happened?
[+] [-] PinguTS|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] forgotpwd16|4 years ago|reply
All three show in their results only kicad.org (Google: https://archive.md/07hCs, Bing: https://archive.md/vFb0V, DDG: https://archive.md/fpOHO).
[+] [-] lume|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tsar_nikolai|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oefrha|4 years ago|reply
Judging by whois and what's currently served at kicad-pcb.org, it simply expired (on October 15) and is currently parked by GoDaddy.
[+] [-] dwild|4 years ago|reply
> Updated Date: 2021-10-15T19:11:24Z
> Registry Expiry Date: 2023-04-12T13:37:29Z
It has been updated on the 15, sure, most probably the date it has been sold, but the expiry is in 2 years.
[+] [-] 542458|4 years ago|reply
https://lists.launchpad.net/kicad-developers/msg45358.html
[+] [-] chuckee|4 years ago|reply
What if I don't sell watered-down cola, but Pepsi? Would they still have a case, and could the resolution of that case include me losing the domain?
[+] [-] ZiiS|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] andi999|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] csmattryder|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] taf2|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] PostThisTooFast|4 years ago|reply
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