Re^5: [OT] Ethical and Legal Screen Scraping

I happen to agree with your evaluation. However, if I try to evaluate things from a neutral ethical standpoint, I can see a potential dilemma in caching when material has been retracted from publication.

However, I feel that the value of memory-augmentation, combined with the value of preserving information in case an author is pressured (legally or otherwise) into removing it from publication far outweighs any potential harm that might be percieved by copyright-holders.

I also see it like ripping CDs I own to my harddisk - I am making an accessible copy of something I have a right to access. If my CD is destroyed, it is still ethically correct to keep my Vorbis files. Likewise, if content is destroyed from the 'net, I see no issue with maintaining the cache of it.

<-radiant.matrix->
Larry Wall is Yoda: there is no try{} (ok, except in Perl6; way to ruin a joke, Larry! ;P)
The Code that can be seen is not the true Code
"In any sufficiently large group of people, most are idiots" - Kaa's Law

Comment on Re^5: [OT] Ethical and Legal Screen Scraping


Do you know where your variables are?
	PerlMonks