4chan community members allegedly harassed and stalked the developer of Audacity, the editing app recently accused of being a spyware software. Because of this, "cookieengineer" is forced to abandon the latest software alternative for Audacity called Tenacity.
My issue is that they're building off Audacity's "Brand", which, if I may boil it down, is "open and free audio editor that is a little clunky but gets the job done and has a very small footprint and even cool filters for the audio you're editing".
— Jason Scott (@textfiles) July 5, 2021
Cute, popular, 20 years old. pic.twitter.com/oBiPOnplJF
The anonymous developer released Tenacity on GitHub earlier in the first week of July. He did this even though the consumers of Audacity are a backlash against the editing software's privacy policy changes.
Another issue that made 4chan community members show adverse reactions is that Tenacity is also built atop the source code of Audacity. On the other hand, it also effectively rolls back the editing application to an output that leads to controversial updates.
This just shows that there's also a high chance that Tenacity could also be considered spyware since it has the same characteristics as Audacity.
4chan Community Members Harass Audacity's Developer?
Now, it seems like the unnamed developer doesn't want to connect with the popular app since he claimed that some of the members of the 4chan community harassed and stalked him.
"As the first people were literally arriving at my place of living, where they knocked on my doors and windows to scare us, I am hereby officially stepping down as a maintainer of this project," he said via his official GitHub post.
I saw what happened to Audacity... Glad I'm using the older version of the software
— 🌿Fluffy🇵🇭Brassico🌾Philifur2024 x PokeCon PH!🌿 (@fluffy_elastico) July 5, 2021
For context, Audacity 3.0.0 or later is now spyware & they can listen through ur mic. If you wanna use the software, better download the older versions from sources other than their site pic.twitter.com/vmbnR5jqLY
Read also: Kaseya Ransomware Attack: Experts Suggest that America Might Face a Future of Cybercrime Spree
"I give up. I don't care. The safety of my family is worth more than an open-source project. They found out my address via a YouTube video where someone was posting my nickname combined with my real legal name (which meanwhile got taken down due to my asking)," he added.
TechRadar also reported that the developer of Audacity was also threatened by 4chan members using illegal butterfly knives. However, the community members claimed that the accusations are not quite true since the exact address of the developer still remains unknown.
Right now, different spyware and ransomware are circulating in various parts of the world. These include REvil's ransomware, as well as the recent fake Android crypto-mining apps.
But, Audacity's case is different since it was originally one of the favorite editing apps of many individuals, especially those who can't afford Adobe Audition and other paid editing software.
What is 4chan Community?
4chan community is one of the groups that offer crack versions of various paid applications. Aside from this, they are also responsible for leaking various inappropriate photos and videos of different celebrities.
It is also one of the largest providers of Audacity providers on the internet. This could also be the reason why they are not happy after Audacity is rumored to be a spyware editing software.
For more news updates about Audacity and other related stories, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
This article is owned by TechTimes
Written by: Griffin Davis
