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Is the Flickr API a National Treasure?

Posted by timothy on from the coerce-and-control-network dept.

First time accepted submitter somekind writes "Over the past few months Twitter imposed restrictions on the use of its client API, and Facebook shut down the facial recognition API supporting face.com after acquiring the company. Mathew Ingram noted these and other examples (Google starting to charge for high-volume use of Google Maps) as evidence that 'open APIs' published by a single vendor can't be trusted by outside developers. Worried about the possibility that Yahoo! might do the same with Flickr, Dave Winer has just launched a petition to Obama asking the President to declare the Flickr API a National Historic Landmark, thus (by Dave's reckoning) legally protected from arbitrary withdrawal or wholesale changes by its corporate masters."

12 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. No it is not by js3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If we learned anything, software dies. Twitter, Facebook, Flicker and whatever flavor of the times websites eventually be forgotten like MySpace, Geocities, AOL and Yahoo

    --
    did you forget to take your meds?
    1. Re:No it is not by buchner.johannes · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If we learned anything, software dies. Twitter, Facebook, Flicker and whatever flavor of the times websites eventually be forgotten like MySpace, Geocities, AOL and Yahoo

      Google is a prime example of trying out fancy things (even buying companies with awesome ideas), and being very happy to let them die, abandoning users. That would all be fine, if another company could pick things up, but software patents in the US are stupid.

      --
      NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
    2. Re:No it is not by lgw · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Critical mass? There was a time when most people on the internet used AOL. There was a time when most web pages were geocities pages.

      Everything fades eventually. Facebook, twitter, Ozimandius, whatever.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    3. Re:No it is not by Omestes · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't know, it seems Google+ is slowly replacing it, a lot of my photography friends have either ditched Flickr, or haven't touched it in months now. There are also better services out there, like Smugmug (also might be suffering a bit), and 500px. Yahoo has pretty much forgotten about Flickr, and they really don't garner much confidence. When was the last time Yahoo really saved, or improved, something? Hell, when was the last time anything of relevance was connected to Yahoo?

      I used to use Flickr a lot, my hobby was colorizing and restoring old images, and I managed to find some good communities there full of people with like interests, and more experience, willing to help me and critique my work. Lately, since venturing into macro photography, I was looking for a like experience. Flickr didn't really fit, it seemed more Instagram-y now, Facebook-y even. Lots of "Wow!", and "Great Job!", and very little "Good, but your framing is a bit off", "Good framing, but you need more/less light/exposure" Useful, and meaningful criticism, not just empty social blurbs and group ego massaging. Flickr feels like a dying community, not like it was a few years back.

      The serious people, who want a good UI, and better templates have moved on to 500px. The people who want community first, and a good UI and display, have move to G+. The casual crowd has moved on to Facebook. Why niche does Flickr fill, that these other sites can do better?

      --
      A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
  2. Uh... by CajunArson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Dave Winer has just launched a petition to Obama asking the President to declare the Flickr API a National Historic Landmark, thus (by Dave's reckoning) legally protected from arbitrary withdrawal or wholesale changes by its corporate masters."

    Yeah nice meaningless stunt.

    If the API is truly "open" then this guy can buy the servers and the network connectivity and the electricity and the hosting support needed to host the sotfware that keeps it going in perpetuity and he won't have to worry about Flickr suing him becuase it's "open".

    Something tells me he is more upset that somebody else won't be paying for all of those things for his personal gain. Well guess what: When you live by the "free" service you die by the "free" service.

    --
    AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
  3. I can relate. by pushing-robot · · Score: 5, Funny

    My mates and I are lobbying to have the neighborhood Pizza Hut declared a national landmark, so we can always eat there for free.

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    1. Re:I can relate. by garcia · · Score: 4, Funny

      Someone should start a petition to have the US Government force Pizza Hut into paying Americans to eat there because paying for that shit is criminal.

  4. open api is not the same as open source software by mrvan · · Score: 3, Informative

    'open APIs' published by a single vendor can't be trusted by outside developers

    No shit, sherlock!

    You mean that companies that offer free (or non-free) stuff can and will stop doing so when their own interest points in another direction?

    I think google et al are great for writing software that allows other people to interoperate in an easy way ... but that does not put a burden on them to continue supporting it after it is no longer in their best interest. We could define "open API" to mean that the server side software is implementable by a third party (like IMAP and even SMB are), but probably their APIs are so useful because they plug into a core product that they're not willing to open source and is extremely difficult to replicate (cf. iOS maps).

    If your business depends on google doing or not doing something, then you are either taking a big risk (and entrepreneurship is about taking risks, so that's not necessarily a bad idea) or you should have a contract with google that they will do as needed for your business to succeed. If you take a big risk as a company and fail, well that's what bankruptcy protection is for ;-).

  5. What an incredibly stupid and evil idea. by jcr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The last thing in the world we need is a pack of bureaucrats telling anyone how to develop their products. Maybe Dave Winer thought he was being funny, but if he's serious, he should be slapped upside the head, good and hard.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:What an incredibly stupid and evil idea. by dissy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If he doesn't work there anymore, that pretty much answers your question.
      You can't hold him accountable for what a company he used to work for does in the future.
      Never know, that might even have been part of why he left.

  6. Interesting problem by ilsaloving · · Score: 3, Interesting

    On the one hand, yes, anyone who complains about a company that stops providing a free services is a whiner who deserves the scorn people send them.

    On the other hand, there are a lot of sites that make use of all the various APIs going around. Some of which may not even be maintained anymore. If google dropped it's maps api tomorrow, a massive number of websites would break, or parts of them would break. It's the internet equivalent of the world economy. There is functionality now that other sites *can't* replicate, because it's not worth doing so on the scale of an individual website. But I have yet to see a single one of these APIs that could be considered essential. The web worked just fine before all these APIs appeared.

    People will have to learn that these services are not actually free, and start paying for the privilege of using them, or they should learn to do without.

  7. Dave should own it by cryfreedomlove · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is a solution for Dave's dilemma. He should start a rival service to flickr (i.e. pay for it) and then personally guarantee to keep it and its API running for free forever. Go ahead Dave! What is stopping you?