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I ran across this website and it really bothers me how similar it is to SO in EVERY aspect without giving any credit whatsoever and even copyrighting the website for themselves. Is this legal?

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  • It bothers me more that people are so willing to write off their education so cheaply.
    – beska
    Mar 3, 2010 at 14:02
  • @beska The majority of those questions are straight from WebAssign, which changes the numbers and subsequently the answer of every homework problem. Googling part of the question comes in handy when you need a hint :P
    – defectivehalt
    Mar 3, 2010 at 14:32
  • @Downvoter: You might want to take a look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-width_non-joiner
    – balpha StaffMod
    Mar 3, 2010 at 14:32
  • Doesn't HWAnswers.com represent something that StackOverflow is against?
    – rlb.usa
    Mar 7, 2010 at 5:06

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<meta name="generator" content="StackExchange 0.9 (20100226155312-a1b2fb6269ba)">

It's a stackexchange site

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Regardless of the fact that this particular site is Stack Exchange one, of course clones are legal. If it's written from the ground-up, then its someone else's tool.

There have been a variety of clone projects already started, such as: Stacked - an Open Source implementation of StackOverflow.com; Am I allowed to make a Stack Overflow clone?; Is codekicker using the software behind StackOverflow or did they program a clone?; Is this Russian site a legitimate copy of the Stack Overflow package?

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    Note that there are some limits. Look up "trade dress", for example, and design patents. (Granted these are abused a lot, but they're meant to provide protection for particularly distinctive designs that rise to roughly the level of a trademark.) If hwanswers were a clone, it would be skirting a bit close to the edge.
    – Nicholas Knight
    Mar 3, 2010 at 15:06
  • And, in terms of copyright, see Substantial Similarity: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantial_similarity
    – user141160
    Mar 3, 2010 at 15:31
  • Not that a Russian site would be all that concerned with the specifics of US copyright, patent, and "trade dress" laws, looking at the last citation. The US has not quite succeeded in conquering the world yet.
    – David Thornley
    Mar 3, 2010 at 21:39
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It looks like a Stack Exchange site, which would be 'legal'.

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    Why the scare quotes? :)
    – balpha StaffMod
    Mar 3, 2010 at 14:47
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Wow you get prizes for reputation on that site!

Jon Skeet could make a killing.

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    Meh, Jon Skeet merely has an iPod Shuffle...
    – balpha StaffMod
    Mar 3, 2010 at 15:42

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