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I've heard of services that offer free proxy bandwidth in exchange for the user acting as a residential proxy node for other users and/or paying clients. It's g
by pseudo0 5y ago
I've heard of services that offer free proxy bandwidth in exchange for the user acting as a residential proxy node for other users and/or paying clients. It's generally marketed as a way for the user to avoid geoblocks and such. If this is clearly stated to the user upfront rather than buried behind half a dozen dark patterns and fine print, it seems like this business model could be conducted ethically. When it comes to whether the companies in this space are currently acting ethically though, I have serious doubts.
- cinntaile 5y agoYou have autobuying bots (sneakers or GPUs or other limited edition stuff) that need to do tricks like this. I wouldn't necessarily call them unethical.
- pseudo0 5y agoIn my opinion it's unethical if the website explicitly states in their terms of service that bot purchasing is not allowed. As far as I know, that is pretty common for websites that sell frequently scalped products, and near-ubiquitous among those that implement technical countermeasures. I'd expect cybercriminals and fraudsters also find a pool of disposable residential IPs to be very useful.
- cinntaile 5y agoA Terms of Service is not a proxy for morals though. Companies will put whatever is convenient for them in there, I'm sure you can come up with several examples that you wouldn't consider ethical.