Re: Re: Thwarting Screen Scrapers

From my own non-business educated perspective, it appears that they are ripping off his brand name. Even though he is selling ProductX for the same amount of money, other people are selling his exact product, only calling it ProductY, therefore deminishing his brand recognition. So, for the time being, he might still make the sale, but in the long run, his business is hurt because his brand is less recognizable due to ProductY ripping him off.

As far as being related to Perl, he posed a problem with a script(s) and ask for a technical solution for it.. I thought that was what Monks were all about.. helping with a technical problem with a Perl script?

I could be wrong.. it's happened once before.

Comment on Re: Re: Thwarting Screen Scrapers

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Re: Thwarting Screen Scrapers by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Jul 18, 2002 at 13:53 UTC
So, he should put his product in a box that says "Product X". ;-) As for the solution - the problem isn't technical, and the solution shouldn't be either. If he needs outside help, he should ask a lawyer. Abigail	[reply]
Re: Re: Thwarting Screen Scrapers by kschwab (Vicar) on Jul 18, 2002 at 15:23 UTC
So, if I have a recurring problem in a real storefront with say shoplifters... I should leave the shop as-is and just handle the problem via legal venues after the fact ? Would there be some value in making it harder to shoplift from my store in the first place ? I'm not looking for legal advice. We pursue legal action when it's possible.	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: Thwarting Screen Scrapers by chromatic (Archbishop) on Jul 18, 2002 at 16:21 UTC
I sense the horns of a false dilemma. Your question is, "How can I tell legitimate customers from illegitimate?" A better analogy would be, "In a retail store, some customers are actually resellers. How can I prevent them from buying things and then selling them to other people?" Provided everyone follows the specifications, I'm not aware of any reliable way to tell a "legitimate" web request from an "illegitimate" one. Perhaps you should redo your site in Flash, to postpone scraping? (No, I'm not serious.)	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: Thwarting Screen Scrapers by Sifmole (Chaplain) on Jul 19, 2002 at 11:36 UTC
So, if I have a recurring problem in a real storefront with say shoplifters... But they aren't shoplifters -- they are paying you. They are just reselling. If you know what they are reselling at, and succeeding then perhaps you are under-pricing yourself.	[reply]