[swsieber]

There _is_ a difference between forking and cloning. Forking is always allowed by the github license:

> other GitHub users have the right to view and fork your repository _within the GitHub site_

^^ That's from the github website. Note that they only have permission to fork from within the website.

So such a restriction serves as a legal barrier - it leaves no legal way to copy the code.

[craftinator]

GitHub doesn't have the ability to choose what is legal. Or a better way to put it, the law does not follow GitHub's Terms of Use. You can violate them all day long and have no legal repercussions. The most important thing about people putting software in open report is that demonstrates their intention to make their software available to the public, which makes a big difference in a court of law.

[mlindner]

The github license is irrelevant here because they don't own the code. So there's no point in even mentioning that.