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A while ago I really wanted to build a bot farm, not to do anything particular malicious (farm reddit upvotes and push content to the front page). Now this pos

A while ago I really wanted to build a bot farm, not to do anything particular malicious (farm reddit upvotes and push content to the front page). Now this post feels like its encouraging me too.

ary 12y ago
> A while ago I really wanted to build a bot farm, not to do anything particular malicious (farm reddit upvotes and push content to the front page). You and I have very different definitions of the word "malicious".
- newaccountfool 12y ago
  Hmmm,I wouldn't say it was malicious as long as there was no legal activity created by it.
opendais 12y ago
Vote manipulation to acquire attention is malicious.
- jotm 12y ago
  Tell that to the hundreds (thousands?) of SEO and PR agencies around the world that offer this same service...
  - forgottenpass 12y ago
    What? Tell them they're sleazeballs? Already ahead of you on that. They don't want to hear it and usually have a lame rationalization that lets them sleep at night.
  - opendais 12y ago
    Its tens of thousands. And depending on how they go about it, it is. You are, however, comparing apples and oranges. Building a bot net vs. sending out a press release is very different things. Please look into Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO. You do something different with your property is OK. Manipulating other people's property through directly bypassing the countermeasures they have in place isn't OK.
    - newaccountfool 12y ago
      He didn't say botnet, he said botfarm which would be akin to a Google Crawler. Whos property is it? Does reddit own the links? What do they own? None of its illegal.
      - opendais 12y ago
        They own reddit.com which is what he'd be manipulating.
diminoten 12y ago
The mere act of building a bot farm is malicious. Also illegal. You might as well have just said, "I was thinking of committing light larceny, nothing malicious, and this article makes me want to do it again."
- newaccountfool 12y ago
  Wrong. If he was using computers that didn't belong to him, then it would be illegal your jumping the gun.
  - diminoten 12y ago
    What do you think a botnet is?
    - newaccountfool 12y ago
      He said 'bot farm' that could just be a group of EC2 servers. He didn't mention botnet. A bot is just an automated program, a bot farm is a group of automated programs.
      - valarauca1 12y ago
        Google's spiders are a bot farm. But nobody considers that illegal.
      - diminoten 12y ago
        It could be. It isn't, though.
    - valarauca1 12y ago
      I don't see how this is illegal. Immoral, yes. Against the ToS of a website, yes. Possible grounds for a lawsuit, yes. But illegal? Not unless I'm actually stealing data, making a profit, or accessing areas I shouldn't be.
      - 12y ago

A while ago I really wanted to build a bot farm, not to do anything particular malicious (farm reddit upvotes and push content to the front page). Now this post feels like its encouraging me too.

ary 12y ago

> A while ago I really wanted to build a bot farm, not to do anything particular malicious (farm reddit upvotes and push content to the front page). You and I have very different definitions of the word "malicious".

newaccountfool 12y ago
Hmmm,I wouldn't say it was malicious as long as there was no legal activity created by it.

opendais 12y ago

Vote manipulation to acquire attention is malicious.

jotm 12y ago
Tell that to the hundreds (thousands?) of SEO and PR agencies around the world that offer this same service...
- forgottenpass 12y ago
  What? Tell them they're sleazeballs? Already ahead of you on that. They don't want to hear it and usually have a lame rationalization that lets them sleep at night.
- opendais 12y ago
  Its tens of thousands. And depending on how they go about it, it is. You are, however, comparing apples and oranges. Building a bot net vs. sending out a press release is very different things. Please look into Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO. You do something different with your property is OK. Manipulating other people's property through directly bypassing the countermeasures they have in place isn't OK.
  - newaccountfool 12y ago
    He didn't say botnet, he said botfarm which would be akin to a Google Crawler. Whos property is it? Does reddit own the links? What do they own? None of its illegal.
    - opendais 12y ago
      They own reddit.com which is what he'd be manipulating.

diminoten 12y ago

The mere act of building a bot farm is malicious. Also illegal. You might as well have just said, "I was thinking of committing light larceny, nothing malicious, and this article makes me want to do it again."

newaccountfool 12y ago
Wrong. If he was using computers that didn't belong to him, then it would be illegal your jumping the gun.
- diminoten 12y ago
  What do you think a botnet is?
  - newaccountfool 12y ago
    He said 'bot farm' that could just be a group of EC2 servers. He didn't mention botnet. A bot is just an automated program, a bot farm is a group of automated programs.
    - valarauca1 12y ago
      Google's spiders are a bot farm. But nobody considers that illegal.
    - diminoten 12y ago
      It could be. It isn't, though.
  - valarauca1 12y ago
    I don't see how this is illegal. Immoral, yes. Against the ToS of a website, yes. Possible grounds for a lawsuit, yes. But illegal? Not unless I'm actually stealing data, making a profit, or accessing areas I shouldn't be.
    - 12y ago