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Comment by mlmonkey | Hacker News Reader

Since the page wasn't clear, how does this work? What's to prevent someone from just downloading the code and using it forever without royalties?

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It looks like Algorithmia hosts the code and the end-user uses api calls.

founder here. Algorithm developers get to choose if they want their code open source or closed source. Close source makes black box algorithms.

For open source algorithms nothing stops users form grabbing the code and taking it off the platform - but again thats the point of open source code. The simplicity of not having to start your own servers, download dependencies or maintain the code yourself makes it worth not leaving the platform in most cases.

How do you deal with black box algorithms taking extra time to get more money/credits?

While infrastructure usage cost is measured per second, algorithm developers currently set royalty costs per API call, so there is no incentive for stalling. We also provide a breakdown of your usage by algorithm to help you identify long-running algorithms.

How did you come up with the 70/30 royalty split on api calls? That seems high to me.

How do you handle closed-source programs that are based on GPL or AGPL licenses? i.e., closed-source programs that are derived from copyleft programs that are meant to remain open-source?

Great question. We currently only allow GPL-licensed algorithms to be open source as we continue to evaluate the best way to promote the virality of OSS licenses in compliance with license. However, some licenses (like AGPL) as simply too restrictive for us to support on the Algorithmia platform at this time.

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