

Airbnb invokes DMCA to take down coding challenge source code - ecaron
https://github.com/github/dmca/commit/133c32fd8d1faba9ccadb1bf2da5f9a1545428ac

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thatha7777
It seems odd to claim that the "solution" to a problem is copyrighted by
anyone other than the person who coded it, especially since... clearly, if
you're interviewing, you're not an employee.

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Yver
It would be nice to give some context here because from what I gather, most of
those files (e.g. the CSV files) are given as part of the problem's
description. They're Airbnb's property, and I don't know the terms of that
"coding challenge" but it's possible that participation requires transferring
copyrights to your work to Airbnb.

~~~
gee_totes
The context is on line #2: * All the files in this repository are copyrighted
by Airbnb and not in the public domain. This individual has posted them
without our consent. (It is an interview programming problem we use and we
don't want people searching for a solution online).*

(I had to read the notice a couple of times to err... notice line #2)

~~~
thatha7777
That line seems to be contradictory. It's either the problem ("It is an
interview programming problem") that Airbnb created, in which case they do
indeed own the copyright, or the files were the solution ("people searching
for a solution online"), in which case they don't own the copyright.

~~~
mxxx
It's the problem. If it was publicly available, people could then search
(elsewhere) for the solution.

~~~
ecaron
It doesn't matter if the solution is publicly available - if their interview
process is based on the assumption that the candidate is completely unaware of
the problem, this method neglects the (more common) case of a candidate asking
other people in her network who've interviewed at Airbnb what happens in the
interview.

In the interviews I've done, I have actually had a recruiter (Robert Half
Technologies) ask the candidate about the interview, the candidate discusses
my coding challenge with the recruiter afterward, and then the recruiter made
sure all other candidates knew of the problem long before my interview so they
could be prepared.

My solution has been to have a multi-stage problem that shifts in an
unexpected way - if from the 1st stage the candidate anticipates my "plot
twist" I end the interview because they've been caught cheating (think "Design
a car" and then later "turn this car into a boat" - if from stage 1 the car
has boat-like tendencies, they're cheating.)

