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Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

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81–90 of 299 posts

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#81
post #9

>good bots You mean, bots that obey robots.txt? https://www.linkedin.com/robots.txt very specifically prohibits scraping by any bot besides a small whitelist. robots.txt compliance is not difficult to build. I'm fine with robots.txt violations being considered hacking.

OTOH, if HiQ employed a team of people to surf to Linkedin and physically type the information into their databases, that would be ok?

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#82
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, I can't shine a flashlight in your store window to look at the menu in the middle of the night? I have to send photons into your "physical piece of property do something".

I don't think anyone who understands how computers work would compare the active process of a server responding to an HTTP request to the entirely passive phenomenon of shining light into a window and capturing the photons that bounce off.

I could just as easy say "I don't think anyone who understands how computers work would compare the active process of a server responding to an HTTP request to a coffee shop".

But to respond directly, the paper and tape had to be bought, printed, &c. Capital was expended to place the paper there. Sure there is not the ongoing cost of maintaining this paper in the window, and if that's where your argument lies, then you should be less condescending about it.

Moreover, we're not talking about the costs associated with access, we're talking about the permission granted to access. As such, ignoring the cost of serving an HTTP request is a valid comparison, because it is not at issue here. LinkedIn's argument is just as strong even if their only argument is they denied permission with no reason given.

Thanks for the ad hominem, by the way. Your childishness and inability to conduct a civil discussion has caused this discussion to end.

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#83
post #70
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I leave my front door to my personal residence unlocked, and someone comes to the front door, opens it, and walks inside without permission --- is that illegal? I'm actually not sure.

It is legal until you inform them they are trespassing and ask them to leave.

Under UK law, trespassing is a civil not criminal matter and so by some definition it is not illegal.

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#84
post #69

> LinkedIn argues that imposing criminal liability for automated access of publicly available LinkedIn data would protect the privacy interests of LinkedIn users who decide to publish their information publicly, but that’s just not true Protect them from what, your unlocked front door ? [0][1] [0] "Hackers selling 117 million LinkedIn passwords" http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/19/technology/linkedin-hack/ind... [1] http…

If I leave my front door to my personal residence unlocked, and someone comes to the front door, opens it, and walks inside without permission --- is that illegal? I'm actually not sure.

Depends on the person (stranger vs close uncle vs not close uncle, etc.), but in general, yes it is. It's also illegal in some states to leave your keys in your running car. It's still illegal for someone to get in and drive off.

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#85
post #52
post #24

There is a difference between public property and private property that is made available to the public. Just because the cafe on the corner has its door open and lets you stroll in off the street doesn't mean that the property owner doesn't retain the right to exclude people. And if the property owner revokes your permission, then going onto the property again can be a crime (trespass).[1] Servers are no different.…

> Just because the cafe on the corner has its door open and lets you stroll in off the street doesn't mean that the property owner doesn't retain the right to exclude people. While I don't know about the EFF's overall argument, as an absolute statement I don't think you are correct here. In the USA at least, "Public Accommodations" (which your cafe example would be) are in fact subject to regulations that limit their…

Laws against discrimination don't turn private property into quasi public property. They are narrow exceptions to the way in which property owners exercise their right to exclude.

Neither the corner cafe nor Linked In can refuse to serve a request by someone because the person is black. But both the corner cafe and Linked In can refuse to service someone for any non-discriminatory reason, such as say because they're a Michigan fan.

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#86

> LinkedIn argues that imposing criminal liability for automated access of publicly available LinkedIn data would protect the privacy interests of LinkedIn users who decide to publish their information publicly, but that’s just not true Protect them from what, your unlocked front door ? [0][1] [0] "Hackers selling 117 million LinkedIn passwords" http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/19/technology/linkedin-hack/ind... [1] http…

Is it even comparable to an unlocked door, though? To me it seems a lot more like leaving something on the front of your house and trying to prosecute when someone takes a picture of it.

Nothing is removed or destroyed, and nothing was hidden or publicly unavailable.

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#87
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my random perusal of the various reports of compromises over the last few years, my impression is not that organisations tend to get hacked using the latest zero-day vulnerability, but rather that organisations get hacked because they have glaring security holes that you could drive a double-decker bus through. For example, bcrypt has been around for how long now? And don't almost all the reports of hacks report…

I wish there was a "web security checklist" where if you ticked all the boxes, you can be pretty sure you have the well-known holes covered. This is why web frameworks are really useful, the decent ones get you way ahead in securing your application from the most common attacks. But if you self-bake, then you have to manage the entire complexity of the web platform.

This doesn't cover everything, but it's a pretty good starting point:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/549/the-definitive-guide...

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#88
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the coffee shop example, would this be like trying to sue someone who is banned from your shop from looking in the window at your price list? In this case, it's more like LinkedIn is attempting to get a PFA order, but I think they need to show abuse, not just looking in the window at the menu you posted on the window?

No because that's not how computers work. Computers don't just emit radiation into the aether that anyone can capture. Accessing a website involves making a physical piece of property do something in response to your HTTP request.

If you are notified in writing that you're banned from a coffee shop, but you walk up to the front door and the "server" (pun intended) greets you warmly and allows you to enter, is that "implied consent" that overrides the prior explicit anti-consent, and therefore undermines the legal authority of that ban?

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#89
post #9

>good bots You mean, bots that obey robots.txt? https://www.linkedin.com/robots.txt very specifically prohibits scraping by any bot besides a small whitelist. robots.txt compliance is not difficult to build. I'm fine with robots.txt violations being considered hacking.

> I'm fine with robots.txt violations being considered hacking

Really?? That would mean private corporations, or private citizens, can write laws.

Re: Accessing Publicly Available Information on the Internet Is Not a Crime

#90
post #24

There is a difference between public property and private property that is made available to the public. Just because the cafe on the corner has its door open and lets you stroll in off the street doesn't mean that the property owner doesn't retain the right to exclude people. And if the property owner revokes your permission, then going onto the property again can be a crime (trespass).[1] Servers are no different.…

> When you make an HTTP request, you're accessing a piece of private property. The owner of that property has every right to decide not to let you do so.

It can do exactly that. It can respond with an error code or start dropping packets entirely. As far as I'm aware, LinkedIn didn't do that.

Any access to LinkedIn's data requires that LinkedIn send it in a response. If LinkedIn is sending it in a response, LinkedIn can't claim that it's not authorized.

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