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Posted5 months agoActive5 months ago
Ask HN: How to build services for FOSS projects when ToS forbids scraping?
FOSSTerms of ServiceAPI usage
Ask HN: How to build services for FOSS projects when ToS forbids scraping?
No synthesized answer yet. Check the discussion below.
Discussion (6 comments)
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You're making a business, right? Pay for official API access.
5 months ago
Right now the cost is a blocker (I'm bootstrapped, no funding yet). On top of that, sometimes official APIs either don't exist or don't expose the full dataset needed for license checks, which makes things tricky.
The law around scraping is unfortunately complex, but it's plausible your use of it (legal compliance) could be legal regardless of ToS ("you're not allowed to use automated tools to check if we're breaking your license" is quite fishy):
https://legalclarity.org/is-web-scraping-legal-a-look-at-the...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiQ_Labs_v._LinkedIn
Or you could base your business in Denmark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping#European_Union
Thanks for sharing the links! You're right, the legality around scraping is nuanced :( Use cases like license compliance might fall on the defensible side.
I’m unsure what your jurisdiction is, but if you’re in the US, speak with an attorney and get an attorney opinion letter. You’ll at least be able to demonstrate that you were acting in good faith.
5 months ago
Thanks!