4 ms·

Perhaps this is why Pandora has the annoying "I'm still listening" button, so they don't have to pay out royalties on things their users aren't listening to.

poopsintub 13y ago
Yep. This won't last for long.
bluetidepro 13y ago
Somewhat related: It's also probably why services like Netflix have the same thing built in ("I'm still watching" button after watching like 3 episodes of a show without clicking buttons), so some bot computer doesn't just stream and record everything.
- tokenizerrr 13y ago
  I always figured that button was for people who fell asleep or had to leave their computers. It would be trivial to automate that prompt away for a malicious user.
  - bluetidepro 13y ago
    Good point, that is probably true. Or possible so Netflix doesn't waste bandwidth on users that are not even there watching/listening.
  - isaacremuant 13y ago
    not as easy but still, doable by someone with determination and a simple knowledge of computer vision and UI simulation.
    - GFischer 13y ago
      It is really trivial, there are several programs that automate UIs, I remember them from trying my hand at automating trading for a game which didn't provide an API :) . Automate 7 was really impressive, and they're at version 9 now http://www.networkautomation.com/automate/automate/ http://www.networkautomation.com/automate/automate/
- Sambdala 13y ago
  I remember a Netflix engineer posting somewhere that Netflix needed to implement this for legal reasons. If they don't require you to keep clicking a button to "request content", it doesn't count as an on-demand service.
- aestra 13y ago
  Hulu has it too, IIRC. Also - if you are a real human but fell asleep or walked out of the house/room.
sudomal 13y ago
It'll be a similar reason for Spotify's [former?] monthly limits.
gordaco 13y ago
Youtube's playlists also have it. It's annoying when I'm listening to a playlist at work and it suddenly stops, although if I'm deep enough in the zone I don't notice it until some minutes later.
spyder 13y ago
But bots can click on that too, so soon there will be captchas but then bots will do captcha solving or they will outsource it.

poopsintub 13y ago

Yep. This won't last for long.

bluetidepro 13y ago

Somewhat related: It's also probably why services like Netflix have the same thing built in ("I'm still watching" button after watching like 3 episodes of a show without clicking buttons), so some bot computer doesn't just stream and record everything.

tokenizerrr 13y ago
I always figured that button was for people who fell asleep or had to leave their computers. It would be trivial to automate that prompt away for a malicious user.
- bluetidepro 13y ago
  Good point, that is probably true. Or possible so Netflix doesn't waste bandwidth on users that are not even there watching/listening.
- isaacremuant 13y ago
  not as easy but still, doable by someone with determination and a simple knowledge of computer vision and UI simulation.
  - GFischer 13y ago
    It is really trivial, there are several programs that automate UIs, I remember them from trying my hand at automating trading for a game which didn't provide an API :) . Automate 7 was really impressive, and they're at version 9 now http://www.networkautomation.com/automate/automate/ http://www.networkautomation.com/automate/automate/
Sambdala 13y ago
I remember a Netflix engineer posting somewhere that Netflix needed to implement this for legal reasons. If they don't require you to keep clicking a button to "request content", it doesn't count as an on-demand service.
aestra 13y ago
Hulu has it too, IIRC. Also - if you are a real human but fell asleep or walked out of the house/room.

sudomal 13y ago

It'll be a similar reason for Spotify's [former?] monthly limits.

gordaco 13y ago

Youtube's playlists also have it. It's annoying when I'm listening to a playlist at work and it suddenly stops, although if I'm deep enough in the zone I don't notice it until some minutes later.

spyder 13y ago

But bots can click on that too, so soon there will be captchas but then bots will do captcha solving or they will outsource it.