WARNING: Avoid all links to kicad - pcb.org -- Use kicad.org

mcdanlj · October 22, 2021, 2:19am

This is probably complete, but just in case it’s useful, I’ve had to speed this process up before:

(Followed of course by rebuilding HTML)

eelik · October 22, 2021, 6:32am

I firmly believe it’s fair and important to make known the later mailing list discussion where Dick Hollenbeck stated that he hadn’t got an offer. Wayne confirmed this:

Dick is correct. I dropped the ball on this after our last email as it
just fell off of my radar with everything that is going on. Mea culpa.

To me it seems that the team attempted but due to human factors it didn’t succeed, and no one person is to blame alone. Blaming is futile anyway. Whether someone should have acted differently is pure speculation from our (other than the directly involved parties) part.

I say this because this has already led to broken telephone effect and personal insults on some forums. They are the last thing the KiCad project or any Open Source project needs.

marekr · October 22, 2021, 12:06pm

I disagree because forgetting things is completely normal and professionalism dictates pursuing followup which appears not done.

Seth_h · October 22, 2021, 4:39pm

No. That is not how this is going to exist. There is no both-sideism here.

There is one person who was in control of the domain name that was used by the KiCad project. There is one person who sold the domain name without giving the KiCad team even the option of bidding against whoever purchased it.

This was not an innocent mistake or a misunderstanding. This was a deliberate action by one person.

Dick may be many things but he is not dumb. He knew both what he was doing and the effect it would have on the KiCad community.

eelik · October 22, 2021, 5:12pm

OK, I understand. -------------

sonosus · October 25, 2021, 6:28pm

Hi all
I believe the old domain is hosting an outdated version of the KiCad site. I’m not sure if this is malicious, but there are downloads to the ‘latest version’ - 5.1.6!
Video(sorry for the audio):

Seth_h · October 25, 2021, 6:36pm

Thanks for the heads up. This is starting to look very bad.

BobZ · October 25, 2021, 6:38pm

My gosh this seems particularly dangerous. If they are not malicious, why wouldn’t they own up to who they are and what they are doing? (And then provide a link to kicad.org.?)

sonosus · October 25, 2021, 6:42pm

Oh, also the KiCad website source repo on GitHub still points to the old domain:

eelik · October 25, 2021, 7:05pm

I just noticed that there’s a link to the old domain in https://github.com/KiCad/kicad-website. (EDIT: ah, Sonosus pointed it out.)

The dates in the current kicad-pcb site make me wonder if they have copied the “latest” website code from github, the last commit there is from Jul 22 2020. (EDIT: no, it seems to be an earlier version.)

Naturally the expectation is that they will mostly keep it but inject something malicious, and/or add ads.

sonosus · October 25, 2021, 7:39pm

I noticed that they conveniently deleted the installer verification guide. It looks like the download link points to the official mirror, but who knows how long that will last.

hermit · October 25, 2021, 9:00pm

Seems to be registered with godaddy. Not sure if sending them a heads up would help. If Kicad is trademarked that might provide some leverage.

Seth_h · October 25, 2021, 9:04pm

We’re working that angle in background.

If anyone wants to help, please contact sites that still link to the old domain

paulvdh · October 25, 2021, 9:18pm

Is there a way to get that URL or IP address blacklisted, or it’s https certificate revoked?

Are there other ways that can be started in parallel to limit further damage?

hermit · October 25, 2021, 9:35pm

I just started a separate thread so maybe we can track what has been done and what maybe what else can be done. Kinda late to try and do it in this thread. Top post is a WIKI so most users can just modify it themselves.

paulvdh · October 25, 2021, 9:44pm

I had a short peek at some youtube video’s about KiCad, and a lot of them mention the kicad - pcb . org website in the description.

Some examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgDXPWaA5Ic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anQkj2-egXw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_nZZLuwYd0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9b_6WLemmg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyP-op2f0kg

Other video’s do not show it in their description, but mention it in the download and install instructions in their video’s

I do not have a youtube account myself because i do not agree with youtubes EULA and advertisement based business model.

John_Pateman · October 25, 2021, 9:46pm

I started working through the list of projects here

I’ve got up as far as the BOM tools but won’t have time to check any more for a couple of days.

marekr · October 26, 2021, 3:34am


https://m.youtube.com/c/pcbreflux
https://www.youtube.com/c/pcbreflux
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvsMfEoIu_ZdBIgQVcY_AZA
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=channel_banner&redir_token=QUFFLUhqblY4TTFVeTVidnZIbWJ5NkJIc0p2SkE4c3NYd3xBQ3Jtc0ttdzNkTTRILXRGYW9jOFV5UVZHeXVBU3MtY2huS1FiV0o2Yi1RNU5xMDUzWjBrR2JmMm92dVBYdVRfeDhzTTN0Um1hRFlDb1M5SGJDUnFjTUNoZU11QUVIWWM5TnhTWXZ4SGN5dmpydURRUHE2b2dPRQ&q=http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL5UVwosP2oMhlHMWqPVksYPgYUxLMBwu8&v=Sbkvza8cKQE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL7HeoSu6eAd0k7VuRSkWivnYl16LvCZkD&v=JSZRIqI1Vnk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLWQef49q72O7SK1A2cs84IHh01dEkCU6F&v=hkDlTxaxgKE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLXAG6pRdTGheYVtfM1tBJSfarf45DGkdv&v=jntJB2M43tI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLZkkNfS-2YhQrS1dqM39ovVI06pWSaZlJ&v=eg6s6T6k1XU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLaIjyWtv1D6jPlB7tbIoYi29q5xDSwK9K&v=UKSQ7ePWzDM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLdWS3fDQrcwtnZ3nJDzfKF0icvDd2MQkV&v=VL74rcIp91A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLo9Sb0pwt7S0FgOUTzg3-1AZn414a2vFP&v=74KCgCAoawA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_nZZLuwYd0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j04T_uVu8U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tN14xlWWmA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01OYONrYtNQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06Kj1ALprGw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NAsmvYVwHc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xnqZakoJfE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y6e_RXCCYs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qTx-OQdJsM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=346GLZ86siI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gv_Ts9JUwc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VFl7InmP9c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fP0s0FnaXQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tXRNusJhgs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NIhF-RH3R4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kqz2UbbiMg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CZEszO9xpA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XA1drZYOLo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P00tHEuVUg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bbkOQb7FBo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74KCgCAoawA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JaK2W0avr0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vByjbdJ1pE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATUOoL1ObDs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRJN8DbKpqY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVhWh3AsXQs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHqFQQWv07Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQsvl_Ijnwo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVRXDAXvypM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_7Y33AoagY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBmUxF7bJbg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hesd83dREB0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5RltACtSgE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH1LHKJNQxY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILnc9KQjHEQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSZRIqI1Vnk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBgu4MghDP4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaUd8WfFooU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNUFRZppsDc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUMjrrMUafU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgyl3Uo7z28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxThcRq0fjU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEkV3ylIeKQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRwTyBX2BFk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc57K-J5hRY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgDXPWaA5Ic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjFm3eHruxY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9c0dzWQjXw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKT9OqouOxY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUrs5Mv2L54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE5hMaQBCn4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM9rgQCas54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu29Up0qsFc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnARh_Ienew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S52_laEL7Ok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8HFABOk4Y0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWSpnXZqeqY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv5Z1cEIA8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE6jsmoJX9M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFgjUnYD-rI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJu3mcoc0e8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZqBcEaWCKc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO2w7uDvY1A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Lt56P-BIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHsiMt_h4Ho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdbIWsxUw6I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoyO8OqKqVk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN-CZ2t0MXc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4LkIF53BX0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asNox7Mbfms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awQkq6mph88
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLzrDwaZ_mY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl6Hv1E_5gE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7fzIHbBpy4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9kJxfkgkW0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckEoE9FMKZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwktawW2aPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxBPvstvHSY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMnLdgzQEBw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg6s6T6k1XU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoI6oKxZN-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiEatEJq9NM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc2tK1hVV3Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giO_V2UpwGg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giU9gnKOYQI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD0FfqCioHk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZzquSYvDac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibWYrCcMQKI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jntJB2M43tI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ZvaxDOY7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaKx4WI6wGs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfxLQu4GXk0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6eyhptlev8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAs_SSnsrNI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lODbDxBi9sg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc6eZMysgIg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcw_dnUVCI8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwxCV6xGiVo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOGPfMO0PJY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ1spEUcJ7E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohiCaO4bjrk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piywYCbLJUU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Ny9dG83y8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVWIW2dA5fs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stK4-5ECg44
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttFONl-AKoI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un_39GOAn8o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE3YZGL7Hx4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNwPV0D6w58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEqROrGxiVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDJNwxY05-s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNKykPwu4Xs

Voodoo powers

marekr · October 26, 2021, 3:37am

@ChrisGammell I forgot you ran contextualelectronics but you got various youtube videos backlinking to the old domain in the description

sonosus · October 26, 2021, 7:48am

I will try and have the old domain added to the pi-hole blocklists.