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>2. If I as the human request the software on my computer to modify the content before displaying it, for example by installing an ad-blocker into my user agent

>2. If I as the human request the software on my computer to modify the content before displaying it, for example by installing an ad-blocker into my user agent, then that's my choice and the website should not be notified about it. Most users agree, some websites try to nag you into modifying the software you run locally. If I put time and effort into a website and it's content, I should expect no compensation despite bearing all costs. Is that something everyone would agree with? The internet should be entirely behind paywalls, besides content that is already provided ad free. Is that something everyone would agree with? I think the problem you need to be thinking about is "How can the internet work if no one wants to pay anything for anything?"

Bjartr 1y ago
You're free to deny access to your site arbitrarily, including for lack of compensation.
- Workaccount2 1y ago
  >and the website should not be notified about it.
  - giantrobot 1y ago
    My user agent and its handling of your content once it's on my computer are not your concern. You don't need to know if the data is parsed by a screen reader, an AI agent, or just piped to /dev/null. It's simply not your concern and never will be.
- cjonas 1y ago
  Like for people or are using a ad block or for a crawler downloading your content so it can be used by an AI response?
  - Bjartr 1y ago
    Arbitrarily, as in for any reason. It's your site, you decide what constraints an incoming request must meet for it to get a response containing the content of your site.
- ndiddy 1y ago
  This article is about Cloudflare attempting to deny Perplexity access to their demo site by blocking Perplexity's declared user-agent and official IP range. Perplexity responded to this denial by impersonating Google Chrome on macOS and rotating through IPs not listed in their published IP range to access the site anyway. This means it's not just "you're free to deny access to your site arbitrarily", it's "you're free to play a cat-and-mouse game indefinitely where the other side is a giant company with hundreds of millions of dollars in VC funding".
  - Bjartr 1y ago
    The comment I'm responding to established a slightly different context by asking a specific question about getting compensation from site visitors.
nradov 1y ago
Yes, I agree with that. If a website owner expects compensation then they should use a paywall.
Chris2048 1y ago
If I put time and effort into a food recipe should I (get) compensation? the answer is apparently "no", and I don't really how recipe books have suffered as a result of less gatekeeping. "How will the internet work"? Probably better in some ways. There is plenty of valuable content on the internet given for free, it's being buried in low-value AI slop.
- Workaccount2 1y ago
  You understand that HN is ad supported too, right?
  - Chris2048 1y ago
    No, I don't. But what is your point? Is the value in HN primarily in its hosting, or the non-ad-supported community?
    - Workaccount2 1y ago
      Outside of Wikipedia, I'm not sure what content you are thinking of. Taking HN as a potential one of these places, it doesn't even qualify. HN is funded entirely to be a place for advertising ycombinator companies to a large crowd of developers. HN is literally a developer honey pot that they get exclusive ad rights to.
deleted 1y ago
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Bjartr 1y ago

You're free to deny access to your site arbitrarily, including for lack of compensation.

Workaccount2 1y ago
>and the website should not be notified about it.
- giantrobot 1y ago
  My user agent and its handling of your content once it's on my computer are not your concern. You don't need to know if the data is parsed by a screen reader, an AI agent, or just piped to /dev/null. It's simply not your concern and never will be.
cjonas 1y ago
Like for people or are using a ad block or for a crawler downloading your content so it can be used by an AI response?
- Bjartr 1y ago
  Arbitrarily, as in for any reason. It's your site, you decide what constraints an incoming request must meet for it to get a response containing the content of your site.
ndiddy 1y ago
This article is about Cloudflare attempting to deny Perplexity access to their demo site by blocking Perplexity's declared user-agent and official IP range. Perplexity responded to this denial by impersonating Google Chrome on macOS and rotating through IPs not listed in their published IP range to access the site anyway. This means it's not just "you're free to deny access to your site arbitrarily", it's "you're free to play a cat-and-mouse game indefinitely where the other side is a giant company with hundreds of millions of dollars in VC funding".
- Bjartr 1y ago
  The comment I'm responding to established a slightly different context by asking a specific question about getting compensation from site visitors.

nradov 1y ago

Yes, I agree with that. If a website owner expects compensation then they should use a paywall.

Chris2048 1y ago

If I put time and effort into a food recipe should I (get) compensation? the answer is apparently "no", and I don't really how recipe books have suffered as a result of less gatekeeping. "How will the internet work"? Probably better in some ways. There is plenty of valuable content on the internet given for free, it's being buried in low-value AI slop.

Workaccount2 1y ago
You understand that HN is ad supported too, right?
- Chris2048 1y ago
  No, I don't. But what is your point? Is the value in HN primarily in its hosting, or the non-ad-supported community?
  - Workaccount2 1y ago
    Outside of Wikipedia, I'm not sure what content you are thinking of. Taking HN as a potential one of these places, it doesn't even qualify. HN is funded entirely to be a place for advertising ycombinator companies to a large crowd of developers. HN is literally a developer honey pot that they get exclusive ad rights to.

deleted 1y ago

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