Ethical Scraping?

[cybrax]

Friend of mine came to me with an idea for a movie revue website, nothing odd about that. However they had a small twist in mind..

As real members would be few to begin with the idea was to scrape users comments about movies from another website. The website they had in mind being one the barely legal types that serve to index the content of streaming web servers behind the iron and bamboo curtains of the interent. As they have seen the movies before any of the more reputable review sites.

Now the letter of law is " thou shalt not poach another sites content " but in this instance should I make an exception?

[manintan13]

I don't know ... That seems a little hokey.

Just because the site isn't very reputable does not give you the option to lower your own standards. Try a little advertising instead. It won't give you quick results, by any means, but you'll feel better about your site that way. And others will feel better about your site if it has original content, than if they find out you stole it from another site.

[cybrax]

Sage advice and yes the intial premise is a little hokey. Personally I would of just asked if the content could be borrowed.

So I asked for details, the logic behind the idea was that the scraped site would never press charges because in order to do so would involve them having to appear in court and admit that thier website was aiding Piracy albeit indirectly. Given the lengths that the owners of these sites goto to avoid any involvement with authorities surely there is some poetic justice in stealing from a thief?

[descalzo]

If you steal from a thief, you are still a thief.

[CWeb Creative]

As much as I think that it would serve those websites right I have to agree a thief is always a thief even if the person being stolen from is also a criminal. I say its much better to create original content that continue to clutter up the internet with the same old stuff.

[hoangbaophotography50]

Oh my gosh! That would be so awesome. You should start the website for sure. I would love to watch movies on there.

[FrozenTime]

As real members would be few to begin with the idea was to scrape users comments about movies from another website. The website they had in mind being one the barely legal types that serve to index the content of streaming web servers behind the iron and bamboo curtains of the interent. As they have seen the movies before any of the more reputable review sites.

Now the letter of law is " thou shalt not poach another sites content " but in this instance should I make an exception?

I don't know.. I think you might be able to do that if you give credit as to where you got it from. I remember hearing that gathered materials, such as a list of websites, books, etc, are also granted copyright status, so I guess it might be legal... I'm not completely sure though.

[jackibees55]

If you steal from a thief, you are still a thief.

Bill Gates stole the software that would become "Windows" from a competitor.
The government taxes every imaginable source of income a citizen can earn...stealing?
The United States, as a people, more or less stole this land from England when it rebelled against the Crown and started a revolution.

1) It's all in your perspective.
2) It all comes down to scruples.
3) As sad as it is, the people who seem to succeed are those who steal, get away with it, and don't look back.