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Is Data Mining for Product Pricing, Illegal?
wessman asks: "I started to read Orin S. Kerr's 80-page paper looking for how his proposal would pertain to: ripping music/movies, P2P, corporate espionage, and lastly, the use of web scraper robots. Little did I know just how relevant his paper would be in regards to that last item! Kerr makes note of EF Cultural Travel v. Explorica in which Explorica is caught hiring a consultant to program a scraping robot to gather pricing information from a competitor, EF Cultural Travel. Well, I do consulting on the side from home and am currently working a project whereby I gather pricing information from all the major travel conglomerates (Orbitz, Expedia, Lodging.com, WorldRes, Sabre, etc.) so that the travel booking business that hired me can meet or beat all their prices. Granted, the circumstances of the Explorica case are different and the case was an example of an extreme ruling, but my questions to the Slashdot community are: Do I notify the company that hired me of the Explorica case? Why is using a scraper robot so different from, say, walking into Best Buy with a handheld and recording product pricing manually? Should I continue with this project and the similar projects I do in this area of programming?" Now, add in the text in the "deliverables" section of this press release and it seems we may have some contradictory information. Who is right, and under what circumstances is price harvesting off of the internet not allowed?
Of course it is. Let's dissect this sentence:
Not having the comma would completely distort the meaning of the sentence.
Who is this "Illegal" person and why are we asking him questions about Star Trek characters?
I'm not "Illegal," but I'll answer. Seeing as how he was killed off in the last movie, I think it's safe to say that no, Data is not mining for product pricing.
(In other words, you illiterate clods need to be more careful with your commas.)
How does one receive authorization to access a web server? Hmm, maybe with a simple html GET? The basic fact here is that of judicial cluelessness. If I put information on a public web server, pretend to "protect" it with a disclaimer (of everything) at the bottom of the page, and then get pissed off because somebody browsed that information, I'm an idiot. In addition, I am legless in court. Web servers make information available to the world. If I had wanted to make information available to certain parties that I trust not to compete with me, I should have set up a secure server with some provision for authentication and authorization.
It really is that simple
later,
Jess
I am programmed for etiquette, not destruction!
Also, Pricewatch, Pricegrabber and Froogle scour the web for prices and create search engines out of them so consumers can find the best price.
I'm not saying just because everyone else is doing it means you can too (and you might have a slightly different objective causing these examples to be weightless) but it's being done all over the place.
Hope that helps.
seems like it's the using confidential information part that got the scrapper capped.
I don't see why accessing *public* information be problematic.
the only thing that may be of trouble is the website EULA, but then the EULA would be saying the same thing as "don't visit my store unless you intend to buy," which would be rediculous in brick-and-mortar world (and should be similarly in cyberspace).
last question, though - why the heck would you ask this kind of stuff HERE? wouldn't a law-forum be a better choice?
My life in the land of the rising sun.
Pricewatch doesnt mine. Companies PAY for the privelege of listing their prices on pricewatch.
I am not a lawyer.
Slashdot is not a lawyer.
Slashdot is not a replacement for a lawyer.
Individual posters on slashdot may be lawyers, but are you really willing to trust your future to what some random person online says, when they could be a lawyer, but could also be some 14 year old kid who thinks it's amusing to screw with people?
Repeat after me:
I will seek proper legal advice.
Seriously, this comes up time and time again. If you're in a situation where you need actual concrete legal advice, SLASHDOT IS NOT THE PLACE TO GO. Sending in an Ask Slashdot is fine for theoretical questions, but when your ass is at stake if a lawsuit comes around, do you really want to trust your future to the legal advice given to you by Anonymous Cowards and karma whores?
Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!
Wrong. Read Sam Walton: Made in America: My Story. Sam Walton says that was a story put out by his competitors to disparage his name and he never did anything of the sort.
Read the case...EF Cultural Travel BV v. Explorica hinges on the fact that the defendant company hired an ex-programer from the plaintif company. The programmer had special knowledge of codes used in the pricing (which he had signed a confidentiality agreement not to disclose). When he made the scrapper program he violated the confidentiality agreement.
:) Depending on how the contract is written you could be jointly liable.
It was the violation of the confidentiality agreement that the court held was illegal.
As for whether you should tell your employer, it depends on your employment agreement!
While this is a 1st Circuit case, it has been followed by the 5th Circuit (Ingenix, Inc. v. Lagalante) and cited in cases in the 7th and 9th Circuit.
Hope this helps.
--me