Comment by CWuestefeld | Hacker News Reader

Comment by CWuestefeld | Hacker News Reader

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use dirty tricks to block information access just to protect their shaky profits.

Look up to the top of this sub-thread, I started it. In that comment I specifically addressed that in the systems I'm responsible for:

- The traffic that (apparently) comes from competitors scraping our prices exceeds the traffic coming from legit customers. We're paying more to supply data to our competitors than to our customers!

- There are sometimes actual reasons beyond wanting "shaky profits" for wanting to limit what site users can do, including development resources to built features and APIs, as well as the actual cost of the computations.

- And I have no idea where your assertion about "dirty tricks" comes from. I'm having trouble finding anything "dirty" in trying to detect people abusing the system, and temporarily blocking their access.

And like I said above, I'm still glad I don't live in your neighborhood. Because not only don't you have any interest in being a positive member of society in commerce (you ignored all my comments on that topic), but I now see that on a personal level (e.g., "You assumed that...") you're also condescending.

> - The traffic that (apparently) comes from competitors scraping our prices exceeds the traffic coming from legit customers. We're paying more to supply data to our competitors than to our customers!

Make an API, put your site behind CDN. Couldn't be more simple. And there's more they could do.

> - There are sometimes actual reasons beyond wanting "shaky profits" for wanting to limit what site users can do, including development resources to built features and APIs, as well as the actual cost of the computations.

Already answered that.

> - And I have no idea where your assertion about "dirty tricks" comes from. I'm having trouble finding anything "dirty" in trying to detect people abusing the system, and temporarily blocking their access.

There was an attempt to make a startup to compare prices in local stores, that caused an outrage among shop owners. They too claimed they were "abused". If you dive into how all those standards like html, http and etc were designed in a first place, you'd find that they were made with an idea that data is expected to be easily digestible by machines. Fighting it is futile and postpones us from having nicer things.

You could just export your prices in some CSV form on regular basis if making a proper API is too hard and redirect incoming scraping traffic to some README page instead of fighting a battle you can't possibly win? That's of course only valid if that business doesn't mostly rely on depriving customers and competitors from information about prices. In that case you have my compassion, but it's clear that pro-community-social-bla-bla-bla rhetoric is nothing more that a disguise. That I understand, but oppose.

Or should I finally respond to that lame remark about neighborhood you're trying to push? Meh.

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