Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   BeAware (beaware@social.beaware.live)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 02:17:33 JST BeAware

   I'm sure it's not massively known quite yet, so I'll mention them again:

   There's a Fedi scraper on multiple instances that's been here for about 6 months now. It won't go away.

   Search for "Awakari" on your instance and block/report every account with the same profile pic, as a data scraper.

   I've posted about them 7 or 8 times now because they've made multiple instances to ban evade. Those instances include Awakari.com, Awakari.app, and Indy.rest

   The owner is Akurilov@mastodon.social

   Just thought I should keep mentioning them for the new users that haven't blocked them yet, as Mastodon Gmbh seems content with allowing them to operate from their instance.

   #Fediblock #Fedi #Fediverse #Scraper #Mastodon

   • Embed this notice
     BeAware (beaware@social.beaware.live)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 02:34:45 JST BeAware

     in reply to

     • Jim Spath

     @jspath55 as a user? Or an admin?

     I ask because historically, domain blocks by normal users have proven to be just a "mute".

     I've seen several times where a person posted "I have blocked xxx domain!" And then in the replies, people from that exact domain wondering how they could see and reply to the post..😬

   • Embed this notice
     Jim Spath (jspath55@chaos.social)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 02:34:46 JST Jim Spath

     in reply to

     @BeAware blocked the domain, fwiw.

   • Embed this notice
     Jim Spath (jspath55@chaos.social)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 02:37:02 JST Jim Spath

     in reply to

     @BeAware I'll report this to admin level.

   • Embed this notice
     BeAware (beaware@social.beaware.live)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 03:03:23 JST BeAware

     in reply to

     • Mike McCue
     • Greg Scallan :verified_red:

     @mike @greg thanks for the amazingly quick reply! Always on your toes!

   • Embed this notice
     Mike McCue (mike@flipboard.social)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 03:03:24 JST Mike McCue

     • Greg Scallan :verified_red:

     @BeAware thanks. on it. Cc @greg

   • Embed this notice
     Greg Scallan :verified_red: (greg@flipboard.social)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 03:13:31 JST Greg Scallan :verified_red:

     in reply to

     • Mike McCue

     @BeAware @mike Should be taken care of now

   • Embed this notice
     BeAware (beaware@social.beaware.live)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 03:19:14 JST BeAware

     in reply to

     • Mike McCue
     • Greg Scallan :verified_red:
     • akurilov

     @greg @mike actually, the owner's account on your instance is still active. @akurilov

   • Embed this notice
     Exerra (exerra@daedric.world)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 03:21:20 JST Exerra

     in reply to

     @BeAware@social.beaware.live I mean, there are ways to opt out, and it seem's like a sort of bridge between the Fediverse and Telegram, so, as you said so yourself:Any implementation that's "opt-in" is dead at the start because we can't teach everyone a lesson.https://social.beaware.live/@BeAware/112922442594534602

   • Embed this notice
     Greg Scallan :verified_red: (greg@flipboard.social)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 03:45:44 JST Greg Scallan :verified_red:

     in reply to

     • Mike McCue

     @BeAware @mike Thanks, I just suspended. Not sure how I missed that

   • Embed this notice
     BeAware (beaware@social.beaware.live)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 06:17:04 JST BeAware

     in reply to

     • Exerra

     @exerra and that's fine that you're fine with it.

     I'm mostly also fine with it.

     However, despitebour values, neither of us can say what other people value. So I make sure to help others BeAware of such things so they can make their own choices.

     Especially when, as you said, this one in particular is not complying with people's normal expectations of consent here.
     Unfortunately, my interactions with the owner and the fact that they're block evading on purpose, make me feel like he won't do the right thing and respect others' wishes.

     People have an expectation here of control over where their data goes. I agree, it's a bit dubious when there's 20,000+ instances here. Though, when they make themselves known directly on Fedi with such nonconsensual practices, people should BeAware of their existence.

   • Embed this notice
     Exerra (exerra@daedric.world)'s status on Saturday, 31-Aug-2024 06:17:05 JST Exerra

     @BeAware@social.beaware.live Well, Google has done so in order to get around Chinese censorship (started redirecting google.cn to google.com.hk). I would call them a legitimate business.
     
     Also, on the topic of Google, search engines sell your posts as well! They're usually free for users, but API access is always paid. Google had a paid API, Bing has it, Kagi has it, etc. That means that currently I can pay Kagi to return a post of yours, based on a query, with a snippet (granted, not the full thing). Same goes for enterprise - always paid.
     
     Now, from what I can see, the website doesn't inspire trust, their tactics are invasive and it either intentionally doesn't respect opt-out sometimes (& instance blocking) or has a few bugs that conveniently aren't fixed. So, I don't like the execution. I do like the idea however - index and provide alerts based on keywords. If one is made that is much less invasive, more trustworthy and respects opt-out, I would have no problem with it. Charging for API access and Enterprise is also fine since that kind of service requires infrastructure that isn't exactly cheap.
     
     In summary: Pricing model seems fair to me, and I like the idea but their execution (invasiveness, dubious respect for opt-out & trustworthiness) is bad and I think if it either fixes its flaws or a competitor is made, I would have no problem with it.