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by threeseed 1711 days ago
> They put a server on the internet but we're not supposed to talk to it.

Just because a company offers a service doesn't give you the right to (ab)use it any way you want.

If that were the case hacking would be considered legal.

3 comments

The requests are authorized, by authenticated users. Facebook could just deny the requests or rate limit. Or stop offering the unfollow feature (which they keep moving and hiding).
If I exploit a vulnerability in order to crack their security and run my own code on Facebook servers, I've committed a crime.

Sending an HTTP request to the Facebook server is not a crime. Facebook code is still in control. It can ignore my request.

> Just because a company offers a service doesn't give you the right to (ab)use it any way you want.

Didn't the US Supreme Court say it did, actually? I know that GDPR and the UK's Copyright Act have something to say about the matter.

There is no law anywhere in the world that grants you permission to use any internet service for any purpose.

It's always subject to the conditions the service provider sets.

Otherwise again it would legalise hacking.

If a company offers a service to the general public, you are allowed to use that service for any purpose permitted by applicable law. Even if the EULA / ToS says you can't. It says so in the applicable law.