[wpietri]

Analogies between novels and code bases are misleading. For the former, the consumer experiences the copyrighted material directly. For the latter, many different expressions (which are protected) result in the same effect (which is not).

That Inspeqtor works with Monit configuration files is definitely not proof of copyright violation. Neither an admission of "heavy influence". As far as I know, the only thing that would prove that this is a derivative work (and therefore possibly a copyright violation) would be a comparison of the source code, one demonstrating a number of features in the Inspeqtor code base that show that Inspeqtor's implementor was doing something more like a port to Go than a compatible implementation.

That's sure not part of the takedown. From the way it's worded, I worry that Monit's authors are not totally clear on the distinction between patents and copyrights, and that they have not taken the advice of a competent IP attorney before taking this step.