Comment by DisposaBoy | Hacker News Reader

Comment by DisposaBoy | Hacker News Reader

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Guys, before rounding up a mob, please try to find out the story from the other side as well. To put it simply there was a complaint about Tfl killing an app last week or something, AFAIK that developer didn't get permission to use the data whether or not it was publicly available or whomever used that data. It states in Tfl's website that written permission is required for certain things and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't get such permissions. In the article I noticed slight whining about other people doing the same thing which is (slightly)comparable to illegal downloading of films, countless people do it, but ultimately you have to seek permission from the content providers as you're utiliing their services.

Quite.

One can't blame companies for being a bit protective of their timetable data. If this kind of data escapes into the wild there's a genuine risk of what is known in the biz as 'having more customers'. When this happens there's a whole knock on series of problems that the companies need to deal with, not least of which is 'working out what to do with all the extra money'.

I think perhaps this chap didn't consider these factors when he cooked up his little application. Will he be stumping up to repair any tracks that get worn out earlier due to increased passenger numbers? I think not.

I catch your obvious double meaning, but it's worth pointing out again that these institutions get a lot of tax money, so we most definitely do have to stump up extra when tracks need repairing.

Good point - the bastards have even less justification in hoarding the precious precious data.

I think you is-understood my post. My point was basically: before jumping t concluions, try to understand the whole story first because it's easy to complain. Whether or not that complaint is justified or not is irrelevant. What atters is whether or not proper procedure was followed. From experience, complaint usually comes before clarification.

I suspect sarcasm is never lost on you.

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