Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has asked a federal court to help it unmask a person who leaked some of its proprietary internal source code online, The Desk has learned.
The request was made in a petition for a subpoena against Microsoft’s GitHub code repository after someone using the name “Bonald” apparently uploaded and distributed some of Binance’s internal source code, which was discovered by the company in March.
A lawyer representing Binance filed a copyright infringement notice with GitHub in late March, asserting Bonald was distributing its proprietary code through the platform without authorization. One day after the notice was filed, GitHub replied to the notice by saying the material was no longer available on their platform, according to copies of an email exchange reviewed by The Desk.
On April 7, attorney Melanie Peker filed a declaration in Georgia federal court suporting Binance’s subpoena request that would force GitHub to turn over certain information related to the real-world identity of Bonald. The data sought from GitHub includes any e-mail addresses, IP addresses, names and physical addresses associated with the account, as well as anyone who downloaded the data from GitHub. The request is still pending with the court.
It is the second time in less than a month that GitHub has found itself at the center of a federal legal matter after a user uploaded internal source code connected to a major online platform.
Last month, social media company Twitter filed a similar legal request with a federal court in Northern California after discovering a GitHub user called “FreeSpeechEnthusiast” uploaded some of its proprietary code in January.
It wasn’t clear when Twitter learned that some of their source code was posted online. Court filings reviewed by The Desk show a Twitter executive in charge of the company’s patents and other intellectual property filed a copyright infringement notice with GitHub in mid-March. GitHub removed the material from its website shortly after receiving the notice; a court clerk later approved Twitter’s request for a subpoena against GitHub.
