Data Wars: Should Web Giants Let Startups Use the Information They Have About You?
Wired has an interesting piece on data scrapping websites/startups, and on dangers and profits that both scrappers and scrappees - and eventually all users - face. The topics of open vs proprietary, freedom of information vs privacy are all here. The last question is: who's the owner of users' information?
But beneath all the kumbayas, there's an awkward dance going on, an unregulated give-and-take of information for which the rules are still being worked out. And in many cases, some of the big guys that have been the source of that data are finding they can't -- or simply don't want to -- allow everyone to access their information, Web2.0 dogma be damned. The result: a generation of businesses that depend upon the continued good graces of a relatively small group of Internet powerhouses that philosophically agree information should be free -- until suddenly it isn't.Full Wired article here.