On: Show HN: Chrome Extension to See IMDB Ratings Dire...

[hombre_fatal]

I'm surprised they're even able to confidently go commercial with their API since they scrape their data.

[dewey → hombre_fatal]

That’s the thing, they aren’t scraping IMDb, they scrape other sources that have the IMDb ratings from what I remember. Directly scraping IMDb is not a good idea if you make money off it.

[ghostly_s → dewey]

LOL..."We didn't scrape your data, we scraped someone else who scraped your data!" Good luck with that one.

[hombre_fatal → dewey]

I don't think the distinction matters if imdb wanted you to stop offering their ratings in your commercial api.

I certainly expect that this project is too small of a fish for imdb to care either way. It's more of a curiosity for me since I always love the simplicity of an API as a business.

[bsaul → hombre_fatal]

I wonder how realistic it would be to expect OP to be able to negociate some kind of deal with imdb should the extension meet some kind of success.

Anyone knows of businesses going rogue first, then striking a deal later ?

[giarc → hombre_fatal]

You can do anything until you get caught. However, I think there are many companies that exist in the realm of "data aggregation", likely walk a fine line though.