[632] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] Facebook: Screw "robots.txt" -- we'll sue you
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (privacy@vortex.com)
Wed Apr 7 01:19:18 2010
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2010 21:56:02 -0700
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Facebook: Screw "robots.txt" -- we'll sue you anyway!
( http://www.nnsquad.org/archives/nnsquad/msg03280.html )
http://bit.ly/bmIM9R (PeteSearch)
"Their [Facebook's] contention was robots.txt had no legal force and
they could sue anyone for accessing their site even if they
scrupulously obeyed the instructions it contained. The only legal
way to access any web site with a crawler was to obtain prior
written permission."
This is -- to put it lightly -- an astounding assertion by Facebook
in light of common Internet practice, and taken to its obvious
conclusion could basically crush the Web in significant ways.
Read the text at the link for yourself -- it's fascinating in a morbid
"staring at a traffic accident" kind of way.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
- Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition
for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
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