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A comment on Show HN: CloudScrape – Cloud-based web scraping platform. Parent comment

Re:Show HN: CloudScrape – Cloud-based web scraping platform by bduerst on Saturday October 17, 2015 @11:17AM (#10404627)
You still have copyright to your online content and can dictate how it can be used. Websites can also have TOS for their content. If you're arguing ethics then it could be unethical to use content in a way that the copyright owner doesn't want it to be used.

That doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.

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Re:Show HN: CloudScrape – Cloud-based web scraping platform by jumperjake on Saturday October 17, 2015 @12:31PM (#10404934)
IANAL, but copyright governs redistribution of content not consumption (That's what pirates get busted for). I aslo recall that there was a ruling that footer TOSs aren't enforceable unless the user actively and explicitly agrees to them.

I agree with the GP in that public content is fair game. How do you thing google works?

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Re:Show HN: CloudScrape – Cloud-based web scraping platform by bduerst on Saturday October 17, 2015 @06:33PM (#10406432)
Google technically respects robots txt and noindex metatags. OP is arguing the ethics of scraping, not if people are ignoring bot meta tags.

Copyright governs how the content is used, including distribution. The reason people who download videos are not liable is because you have to download the complete content to see the copyright. File sharers have already downloaded the content and are subject to copyright. Bots that scrape can interpret meta tags in the header of the dom, which is why scraping and violating copyright is unethical.

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