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An update on Wayback Machine access

685 points · 362 comments · ChrisArchitect

  1. simonw · · focus · HN ↗
    > Here’s what’s going on. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine has been hit by waves of high-volume automated traffic, and we’ve put protections in place to keep the service running.

    I'm pretty certain this is scrapers that are trying to workaround blocks on accessing original sites by hitting the Wayback Machine copy instead. Appalling behavior.

    In addition to the load it puts on this vital non-profit piece of Internet infrastructure, we've also already seen some sites opt out of the Wayback Machine to prevent their content from being scraped via this alternative route.

    1. pantsforbirds · · focus · HN ↗
      We used to always "scrape" the wayback machine for any sort of news article we actually paid to consume. I was absolutely shocked by major news sites making very important edits to an article without any sort of editorial notice!

      Sadly this sort of thing is probably not really possible anymore, but I can't really blame anyone for making this sort of decision. I can't imagine how much more traffic they get now vs 2021 when we were doing this.

      1. subarctic · · focus · HN ↗
        What if they charged money? Is it something you'd pay for?
        1. bee_rider · · focus · HN ↗
          I wonder if there would be concern on their part about appearing to be a company that was basically offering paywall circumvention as a product.
          1. cloakley · · focus · HN ↗
            It wouldnt be a paywall, more like an option for companies to not pay scrappers. At least the payment deviates to the source.
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