4 ms·

I don't care about Yelp's terms of service, do you?

by ycombinatrix 2y ago

SoftTalker 2y ago
You will when a process server hands you a notice.
- stavros 2y ago
  A notice of what? It's not illegal to violate someone's random wishlist. It's not like you've signed a contract with them.
  - jandrese 2y ago
    Typically for copyright infringement. They'll sue you for the maximum legal damages possible per copy, multiplied by the number of times your bot loaded a page, probably in the trillions of dollars.
    - CuriouslyC 2y ago
      So have the bot act on behalf of the user, using workers run on the user's machine. That's fair use.
      - phone8675309 2y ago
        Are you in the habit of releasing software that causes users to violate the ToS of services?
        CuriouslyC 2y ago
        I'm happy to write code to let users circumvent the restrictions put in place by assholes, as long as it doesn't end up getting them in legal trouble I'm fine with it. If companies like google don't want people to try and screw them over, I suggest they offer an olive branch and stop being unethical jerks.
  - qingcharles 2y ago
    It is in Illinois. Their Computer Tampering law specifically makes violation of a web sites ToS punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Probably other states have similar.
    - stavros 2y ago
      https://njal.la/ https://njal.la/ looks interesting.
  - SoftTalker 2y ago
    Yelp can afford lawyers who will try to convince a judge otherwise. Can you afford lawyers to argue your case?
- jandrese 2y ago
  Corporate policy is not the law. If you didn't sign a contract with them they should have no legal power. The DMCA was a mistake.
  - SoftTalker 2y ago
    Coprporations (or other organiztions or individuals) can make things available to the public without completely ceding control over how they are used. Imagine a landowner who allows public access to hikers using defined trails but no overnight camping. That's legal and just has to be posted. If you don't like it, don't use it.
    - leros 2y ago
      Have you seen the results of the hiQ Labs v LinkedIn case? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiQ_Labs_v._LinkedIn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiQ_Labs_v._LinkedIn
- dankwizard 2y ago
  It's so cute watching people play pretend lawyer on the internet.

I don't care about Yelp's terms of service, do you?

SoftTalker 2y ago

You will when a process server hands you a notice.

stavros 2y ago
A notice of what? It's not illegal to violate someone's random wishlist. It's not like you've signed a contract with them.
- jandrese 2y ago
  Typically for copyright infringement. They'll sue you for the maximum legal damages possible per copy, multiplied by the number of times your bot loaded a page, probably in the trillions of dollars.
  - CuriouslyC 2y ago
    So have the bot act on behalf of the user, using workers run on the user's machine. That's fair use.
    - phone8675309 2y ago
      Are you in the habit of releasing software that causes users to violate the ToS of services?
      - CuriouslyC 2y ago
        I'm happy to write code to let users circumvent the restrictions put in place by assholes, as long as it doesn't end up getting them in legal trouble I'm fine with it. If companies like google don't want people to try and screw them over, I suggest they offer an olive branch and stop being unethical jerks.
- qingcharles 2y ago
  It is in Illinois. Their Computer Tampering law specifically makes violation of a web sites ToS punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Probably other states have similar.
  - stavros 2y ago
    https://njal.la/ https://njal.la/ looks interesting.
- SoftTalker 2y ago
  Yelp can afford lawyers who will try to convince a judge otherwise. Can you afford lawyers to argue your case?
jandrese 2y ago
Corporate policy is not the law. If you didn't sign a contract with them they should have no legal power. The DMCA was a mistake.
- SoftTalker 2y ago
  Coprporations (or other organiztions or individuals) can make things available to the public without completely ceding control over how they are used. Imagine a landowner who allows public access to hikers using defined trails but no overnight camping. That's legal and just has to be posted. If you don't like it, don't use it.
  - leros 2y ago
    Have you seen the results of the hiQ Labs v LinkedIn case? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiQ_Labs_v._LinkedIn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiQ_Labs_v._LinkedIn
dankwizard 2y ago
It's so cute watching people play pretend lawyer on the internet.