Smoke Labs

I’ve been checking out the Great Canadian Appathon and it doesn’t seem so great. The event is set up like most hackathons or hackdays, except it comes with some pretty lame terms and conditions.

First off, the event is for Windows 7 only. A hack event should let you develop for whatever platform you feel most comfortable coding for because it will let you create the best app in the end. Microsoft has been throwing around a lot of money to get developers to code for Windows 7, and this looks like another way they’re trying to influence the dev community. Rather than force developers to code for your platform, it would make far more sense to provide devices, support and incentives for them to try it out, rather than stagnate an entire hack event.

Another important caveat for the event is that the participants will not own their code at the end. Instead, the code will be “co-owned” by XMG Studios out of Toronto who are also the judges.

A big incentive for people to come out to these hack events is that it motivates people to create products that they’ll late own and potentially turn into a business. Why should XMG Studios be allowed to own this source code? Just because they held the event? In the end, it just seems like way for them to get free work done by poor students.

The Great Canadian Appathon seems pretty contrived when compared to hack events where developers can choose whatever platform they want, and own their source code at the end of the day.
Take this as a lesson on how not to run a hack event.
Here are the specific rules out of the “terms and conditions”:
“[he/she] grants to the XMG, in perpetuity, a non-exclusive license to publish, display, reproduce, modify, edit or otherwise use his/her Application, in whole or in part, for any reason; (ii) waives all moral rights in and to his/her Application in favour of XMG;”
“[he/she] assigns all intellectual property, including copyright, in and to his/her Application to XMG and waives his/her moral rights therein in favour of XMG;”