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U.S. judge says LinkedIn cannot block startup from public profile data

reuters.com

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Re: U.S. judge says LinkedIn cannot block startup from public profile data

#101

Post by avip »

syshum wrote: post #74
anandsuresh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a tricky issue that has more to do with user psychology than technology. While the data is public, most users do not understand the persistence characteristics of data, especially in the presence of 3rd parties. In a world where there are no (persistent) copies made by third-parties, the user still is in control of the visibility of their data by updating their profile directly on LinkedIn to show/hide pieces…

One solution to both HIq labs and linked in is to give users, not these companies, some kind of ownership over their data. Instead of having information about you be owned by which ever corporation collects it, have it at all times be owned by you. While there are some clear problems with this approach, something needs to be done about companies building databases of ruin where every moment everyone lives from the da…

You do "own" the data. It just so happens that by registering to LI, you've granted A worldwide, transferable and sublicensable right to use, copy, modify, distribute, publish, and process, information and content that you provide through our Services, without any further consent, notice and/or compensation to you or others

Re: U.S. judge says LinkedIn cannot block startup from public profile data

#102

Post by dahart »

redial wrote: post #96
EGreg wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me replace the word "re-use" with "re-publish". Does your analysis change at all?

No. Public means everybody can do whatever they want with it, no exceptions ( except , as with all things, by law). If you want to restrict the information, then do it, but don't make it public and then when a competitor uses it claim it wasn't public 'for them'.

Linked in never made it "public". Use of their site is and always has been licensed. https://www.linkedin.com/legal/user-agreement

Re: U.S. judge says LinkedIn cannot block startup from public profile data

#103

Post by jlgaddis »

dragonwriter wrote: post #43
jlgaddis wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Appeal? The case hasn't even been heard yet. This was a preliminary injunction; it's far from over!

A preliminary injunction can be the subject of an interlocutory appeal.

In this instance, however, it is not (as can be gleaned by reading the article).

Re: U.S. judge says LinkedIn cannot block startup from public profile data

#104

Post by smokeyj »

dahart wrote: post #93
iamleppert wrote: post #51

I fully support this decision. If you're offering a service that is public, with the intent to your users that such information will be available publicly, you cannot then police what users of that data you consider to be "public" because it serves your business interest. LinkedIn, of course, wants to get all the benefit of the public Internet with providing as little as they can. This, coming from someone who used t…

> If you're offering a service that is public LinkedIn is not a public service, LinkedIn is a private, for-profit business. A public service is normally publicly funded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_service > with the intent to your users that such information will be available publicly, you cannot then police what users of that data you consider to be "public" because it serves your business interest. Linked…

> LinkedIn is not a public service

Boo. OP said it's a service offered to the public. Don't need to move the goal post.

> Whether it's enforceable or not, LinkedIn has a EULA and use of their service, whether you have an account or not, is presumably governed by their license.

Turns out I also have a EULA. And when linkedin responds to my HTTP requests, they opt into my EULA agreement.

It sounds like LinkedIn doesn't want to be accessible from the world wide web. Going offline is always an option.

Re: U.S. judge says LinkedIn cannot block startup from public profile data

#107

Post by SomeStupidPoint »

DannyBee wrote: post #42
bigtones wrote: post #6

This is just a preliminary injunction and the court has not even heard or ruled on this case. They just allowed HiQ to access the data while they wait for the scheduled court hearing to begin. The court may eventually rule very differently once they have heard all the evidence presented and weighed up existing applicable case law. The judge who issued this injunction - Edward Chen, is also the judge presiding over th…

"This is just a preliminary injunction and the court has not even heard or ruled on this case" This is not quite right. One of the requirements to get a PI is a likelihood of success on the merits ;)

The order discusses how less is required of the merits (need only raise serious questions) if the consequences are dire (going out of business), then discusses how they depend entirely on LinkedIn.

It's also possible that the judge is giving them affordance before killing their business to prevent appeals.

Re: U.S. judge says LinkedIn cannot block startup from public profile data

#108

Post by redial »

dahart wrote: post #102
redial wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Public means everybody can do whatever they want with it, no exceptions ( except , as with all things, by law). If you want to restrict the information, then do it, but don't make it public and then when a competitor uses it claim it wasn't public 'for them'.

Linked in never made it "public". Use of their site is and always has been licensed. https://www.linkedin.com/legal/user-agreement

The user agreement does not cover the "public" parts of Linked In, like for example, the user agreement. If I want to copy and republish the user agreement I can, despite of what it might say.

If the startup were republishing private information from Linked In I would agree with you.

Re: U.S. judge says LinkedIn cannot block startup from public profile data

#110

Post by dahart »

smokeyj wrote: post #104
dahart wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're offering a service that is public LinkedIn is not a public service, LinkedIn is a private, for-profit business. A public service is normally publicly funded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_service > with the intent to your users that such information will be available publicly, you cannot then police what users of that data you consider to be "public" because it serves your business interest. Linked…

> LinkedIn is not a public service Boo. OP said it's a service offered to the public. Don't need to move the goal post. > Whether it's enforceable or not, LinkedIn has a EULA and use of their service, whether you have an account or not, is presumably governed by their license. Turns out I also have a EULA. And when linkedin responds to my HTTP requests, they opt into my EULA agreement. It sounds like LinkedIn doesn't…

> Boo. OP said it's a service offered to the public. Don't need to move the goal post.

Nothing moved. OP also said, in the same sentence, "you cannot then police what users of that data you consider to be 'public' because it serves your business interest." Yes, they can. It is clear from context that OP was suggesting that LinkedIn should be held to the legal standards of a "Public Service" in the government entity sense of the term. This is not the case, LinkedIn has no legal requirement to provide anything to the public. Booing me doesn't change that.

> Turns out I also have a EULA. And when linkedin responds to my HTTP requests, they opt into my EULA agreement.

Good luck with that!

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