I'm sorry. I wasn't precise enough. I meant that this corporation didn't offer news feeds in RSS format of their own news articles from their websites. They said their technology department had not yet implemented it in their set of Java tools and that it might be a while, given that they had other priorities. I suggested that XML::RSS -- run by them to scrape their content right off their web pages to convert to RSS -- could get the job done right now. I didn't see any downsides, but they said their techs "cringe" every time they hear the word "scraping." I don't understand why. What are the technical downsides to using Perl's RSS tools?
Gary -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Terris Linenbach Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2004 8:35 PM To: Gary Nielson Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: XML::RSS scraping of web pages RSS feeds that are based on scraping are likely illegal from a copyright perspective. The problem with RSS is that it allows for actual content that can be read for the most part without visiting the originating site and viewing advertisements that are the basis for a revenue model. This violates "free use" -- you can quote an article but not the whole thing verbatim. I think the portals will eventually provide categorized RSS feeds that only contain a few lines of text and a hyperlink to the site. The webmasters that get the traffic will eventually appreciate the business. Sort of like google news but for wider topics than just your everyday news. On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 20:16:05 -0400, Gary Nielson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have a technical/philosophical question about scraping of web pages > for RSS feeds. You all helped me a while back in figuring out the use > of HTML::TokeParser and XML::RSS to extract headlines and links from web pages. > As far as I am concerned, scraping of a web page is the same as > accessing a web page through a web browser... unless I am missing > something... But I was talking to techies at a big corporation who > manage web sites and they were telling me that they cringe whenever > the word "scraping" is used, that it is like chalk on a blackboard to > them... I didn't have the chance to pursue this with them, but it > surprised me. So what is wrong with "scraping," or what are the > disadvantages of it over other technologies? Aren't many of the RSS feeds out there as a result of scraping? Any insights appreciated. > > _______________________________________________ > ActivePerl mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe: http://listserv.ActiveState.com/mailman/mysubs > _______________________________________________ ActivePerl mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: http://listserv.ActiveState.com/mailman/mysubs _______________________________________________ ActivePerl mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: http://listserv.ActiveState.com/mailman/mysubs
