2021 Transparency Report
In GitHub's latest transparency report, we’re giving you a by-the-numbers look at how we responded to requests for user info and content removal.
Rose Coogan
January 27, 2022
Category
Policy
Open source creates value, but how do you measure it?
When digital infrastructure is overlooked by governments, it isn't just a missed opportunity: policies may inadvertently endanger open source collaboration.
Peter Cihon
January 20, 2022
How GitHub contributed to the Santa Clara Principles update
GitHub was honored to contribute to the Santa Clara Principles on Transparency and Accountability in Content Moderation 2.0.
Rose Coogan
December 21, 2021
GitHub at the UN Internet Governance Forum
Last week, GitHub joined the Internet Governance Forum to spread awareness of developers’ initiatives and public policy interests.
Peter Cihon
December 13, 2021
The Copyright Office expands your security research rights
Recently, the Copyright Office responded to the calls to clarify the scope of protected security research.
Justin Colannino
November 23, 2021
GitHub’s developer-first approach to content moderation
GitHub puts the needs of developers at the core of our content moderation policies. Learn more about our approach and how you can contribute.
Abby Vollmer
November 17, 2021
Revised enterprise DPA with new standard contractual clauses
As part of GitHub's strong commitment to developer privacy, we are excited to announce updates to our privacy agreements in line with new legal requirements and our own robust data protection practices.
Olivia Holder
September 27, 2021
Vague infringement allegations considered harmful
Ensuring that software copyright allegations are specific and actionable benefits the entire developer ecosystem. That’s why GitHub submitted a “friend of the court” brief in the SAS Institute, Inc. v. World Programming Ltd. case before a Federal Court of Appeals.
Justin Colannino
August 31, 2021
Request for proposals: Defining standardized GitHub metrics
The GitHub Social Impact and Policy teams are issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a researcher to define a list of publicly available GitHub platform usage metrics by country for international development, public policy and economics disciplines.
Mala Kumar
August 31, 2021
2021 Transparency Report: January to June
We’re reporting on a six-month period rather than annually to increase our level of transparency. For this report, we’ve added more granularity to our 2020 stats.
Abby Vollmer
August 25, 2021
Standing up for developers: the GitHub Developer Rights Fellowship at Stanford Law School
GitHub’s Developer Defense Fund will enable independent legal support from the Stanford Juelsgaard Clinic to review and handle appropriate DMCA cases for developers on GitHub and across the software ecosystem.
Mike Linksvayer
July 27, 2021
Minimum Viable Governance: lightweight community structure to grow your FOSS projects
When you move from 1 maintainer to 1+N maintainers of your project, things can get complicated. Minimum Viable Governance (MVG) is a simple, easy-to-implement governance framework for your free and open source projects.
Justin Colannino
July 22, 2021
Updates to our policies regarding exploits, malware, and vulnerability research
One month ago, we started a discussion with the community about proposed revisions to clarify GitHub’s policies on security research, malware, and exploits with the goal to enable, welcome, and encourage dual-use security research and collaboration on GitHub. We want to thank the broader security research community, project maintainers, and developers who shared feedback with […]
Mike Hanley
June 4, 2021
A call for feedback on our policies around exploits and malware
April 30, 2021 update: Thank you to everyone who’s weighed in on the discussion so far. I’ve commented in the pull request to clarify a few points based on initial feedback. Keep the comments coming. We’re calling for feedback on our policy around security research, malware, and exploits on the platform so that the security […]
Mike Hanley
April 29, 2021
Safe harbors for software collaboration, part 2
The modern internet was built on a legal framework of safe harbors for user-generated content. These safe harbors are widely credited with having enabled global internet innovation by protecting online platforms from liability for user content they host. Despite this, they are increasingly at risk around the world as regulators look to curb objectionable content […]
Abby Vollmer
April 8, 2021
Supreme Court sides with developers in Google v. Oracle
Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Google v. Oracle reaffirms that developers’ ability to port their code and skills between platforms is a significant interest to be protected. The headline is that Google’s use of Oracle’s Java API was “fair use,” but the Court’s recognition of the importance of developer interests in copyright law is a […]
Mike Linksvayer
April 6, 2021