Earlier quoted context omitted.
Serious question: What do you gain from having an extra layer like docker?
Selenium grid runs in docker, so it's easy to have multiple instances running. Better control.
Web Scraping in 2016
81–90 of 402 posts
Re: Web Scraping in 2016
#82Keep in mind that companies have sued for scraping not through the API, for example LinkedIn, which explicitly prevents scraping via the ToS: http://www.informationweek.com/software/social/linkedin-sues... OKCupid did a DMCA takedown for researchers releasing scraped data: https://www.engadget.com/2016/05/17/publicly-released-okcupi... Since both of these incidents, I now only scrape if it's a) through the API follow…
How can TOS have legal power for the case scraping? A website is a public property. If I'm visiting it without logging in, I don't have a chance to accept TOS. Imagine a hotel that makes guests sign a document saying they will not make photographs of the building. If I'm not a guest, I can take photographs of it and I can't even know that would be illegal.
Re: Web Scraping in 2016
#83Keep in mind that companies have sued for scraping not through the API, for example LinkedIn, which explicitly prevents scraping via the ToS: http://www.informationweek.com/software/social/linkedin-sues... OKCupid did a DMCA takedown for researchers releasing scraped data: https://www.engadget.com/2016/05/17/publicly-released-okcupi... Since both of these incidents, I now only scrape if it's a) through the API follow…
How can TOS have legal power for the case scraping? A website is a public property. If I'm visiting it without logging in, I don't have a chance to accept TOS. Imagine a hotel that makes guests sign a document saying they will not make photographs of the building. If I'm not a guest, I can take photographs of it and I can't even know that would be illegal.
This is called "clickwrap". There is usually a notice in the footer of each page that says something like "By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Service." Typically, this kind of notice has been held enforceable. More recently, judges have been demanding that such notices be placed more prominently before they're held enforceable (e.g., somewhere above the fold), but that's it.
>Imagine a hotel that makes guests sign a document saying they will not make photographs of the building. If I'm not a guest, I can take photographs of it and I can't even know that would be illegal.
The reasonable laws that exist in meatspace are not applicable online, because once you hit someone else's server, you're considered to be on their property and they have the right to control what you do there. There is no "public property" from which to safely stand and take photographs in the internet.
Also, photographs of structures may not be free to use. Architectural copyrights went into effect in the early 90s and have a term of either 90 or 120 years. Thus, if you take a photograph of a building built in 1991 and the year is not yet 2111, there is a chance that the architect can claim infringement.
Re: Web Scraping in 2016
#84There is so much that's missing from this. What about gathering tokens from customers vs. paying for social data feeds? How about canned services like 80legs?
Re: Web Scraping in 2016
#85Tbh I didn't enjoy the article, it just seems like someone who has just learned about Node.js tried to explain (and mostly failed) how to use some packages to scrape a page. I was expecting to learn some new techniques, but all it explained was how to make a few API calls in order to solve a very specific problem. Also, there was the overall arrogant tone: "I found their interview approach a bit of a turn off so I di…
Part of the turnoff for me was the middle-schooler tone and vocabulary. Good walkthrough with good code examples though, obviously written by a very smart JS dev.
https://contently.com/strategist/2015/01/28/this-surprising-...
Re: Web Scraping in 2016
#86Keep in mind that companies have sued for scraping not through the API, for example LinkedIn, which explicitly prevents scraping via the ToS: http://www.informationweek.com/software/social/linkedin-sues... OKCupid did a DMCA takedown for researchers releasing scraped data: https://www.engadget.com/2016/05/17/publicly-released-okcupi... Since both of these incidents, I now only scrape if it's a) through the API follow…
How can TOS have legal power for the case scraping? A website is a public property. If I'm visiting it without logging in, I don't have a chance to accept TOS. Imagine a hotel that makes guests sign a document saying they will not make photographs of the building. If I'm not a guest, I can take photographs of it and I can't even know that would be illegal.
No, its not. It may be in public view, but that's a different issue.
Re: Web Scraping in 2016
#87Keep in mind that companies have sued for scraping not through the API, for example LinkedIn, which explicitly prevents scraping via the ToS: http://www.informationweek.com/software/social/linkedin-sues... OKCupid did a DMCA takedown for researchers releasing scraped data: https://www.engadget.com/2016/05/17/publicly-released-okcupi... Since both of these incidents, I now only scrape if it's a) through the API follow…
How can TOS have legal power for the case scraping? A website is a public property. If I'm visiting it without logging in, I don't have a chance to accept TOS. Imagine a hotel that makes guests sign a document saying they will not make photographs of the building. If I'm not a guest, I can take photographs of it and I can't even know that would be illegal.
Re: Web Scraping in 2016
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
How can TOS have legal power for the case scraping? A website is a public property. If I'm visiting it without logging in, I don't have a chance to accept TOS. Imagine a hotel that makes guests sign a document saying they will not make photographs of the building. If I'm not a guest, I can take photographs of it and I can't even know that would be illegal.
That analogy is not equitable. If you take photographs of a building while on the building's property , they have the right to tell you to stop, or call the police to escort you off if you refuse to do so.
The entire point of protocols is to precisely define the terms of communication. The status code is '200 OK', not '200 OK/Asterisk'. But of course if lawlers didn't force themselves into the situation, they'd be out of jobs.
As an aside, I'd really like to see a browser plugin that would scrape sites in the normal course of access, storing the proceeds in a distributed public database.
Re: Web Scraping in 2016
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
How can TOS have legal power for the case scraping? A website is a public property. If I'm visiting it without logging in, I don't have a chance to accept TOS. Imagine a hotel that makes guests sign a document saying they will not make photographs of the building. If I'm not a guest, I can take photographs of it and I can't even know that would be illegal.
That analogy is not equitable. If you take photographs of a building while on the building's property , they have the right to tell you to stop, or call the police to escort you off if you refuse to do so.
Re: Web Scraping in 2016
#90Good stuff. I do a good bit of scraping, and made RubyRetriever[1] to make my life easier but it seems like I'm getting roadblocked on occasion, probably due to some of the things you mention in your article. Is there any way for a site to verify that only their JS and CSS files are linked? Like preventing injection? [1]: https://github.com/joenorton/rubyretriever