After Twitter caught wind of its source code being leaked on GitHub, the only thing on the company’s mind was revenge. Now, Twitter has an ace up its sleeve as the US District Court for the Northern District of California signed off on a subpoena yesterday.
Under the terms of the subpoena, GitHub has until April 3 to unmask the hooligan(s) that uploaded pieces of the Twitter source code to the GitHub repository. The subpoena specifically requires GitHub to disclose the name, address, telephone number, email address, social media profile information, and IP address of any user associated with the account that uploaded the code, which goes by the username “FreeSpeechEnthusiast”— perhaps a nod to Elon Musk’s fallible attempts at being a “free speech absolutist.” GitHub must also provide Twitter with the same information of anyone who downloaded the code from FreeSpeechEnthusiast’s posting.
GitHub did not immediately return Gizmodo’s request for comment on the subpoena.
GitHub initially pulled the code from the website after Twitter filed a DMCA takedown, but it’s unclear exactly how long the source code—or what portion of it—was posted, but The New York Times reported earlier this week that it was apparently online for months before Twitter caught wind of it. Likewise, Twitter believes the source of the leak could be an engineer that left the San Francisco office at some point last year.
Maybe Twitter is just mad that someone beat them to the punch? Musk revealed on Twitter earlier this month that the company’s recommendation algorithm in its source code will be open source beginning on March 31. While the company and Musk have made no indication of ever making the entire source code open access, he stated that this first peek behind the curtain will be “incredibly embarrassing at first” and is an attempt to have Twitter earn the trust of its users.