[crazygringo]

But that's not a problem caused by Cloudflare.

That's a problem caused by bots and spammers and DDoSers, that Cloudflare is trying to alleviate.

And you generally don't have to prove it over and over again unless there's a high-risk signal associated with you, like you're using a VPN or have cookies disabled, etc. Which are great for protecting your privacy, but then obviously privacy means you do have to keep demonstrating you're not a bot.

[BarryMilo]

You might say the problem CloudFlare is causing is lesser than the ones it's solving, but you can't say they're not causing a new, separate problem.

That they're trying counts for brownie points, it's not an excuse to be satisfied with something that still bothers a lot of people. Do better, CloudFlare.

[crazygringo]

Do better, how?

If you have any ideas on how to protect against bad actors in a way that is just as effective but easier for users, please share it.

Because as far as I can tell, this isn't a question of effort. It's a question of fundamental technological limitations.

[foresto]

"We have decided to endlessly punish you for using what few tools you have to avoid being exploited online, because it makes our multi-billion dollar business easier. Sucks to be you."

[crazygringo]

Small non-profits and personal blogs encounter the same problem. It has nothing to do with being a multi-billion dollar corp.

If you have a better technological solution, we'd all love to know it. Because right now, site owners are using the best tools available.

Criticizing when there's no other solution isn't very useful, is it?

[foresto]

> It has nothing to do with being a multi-billion dollar corp.

Cloudflare is the multi-billion dollar corporation. It has everything to do with that, because they are the primary cause, and their resources and position make them by far the best equipped to solve it.

> Criticizing when there's no other solution isn't very useful, is it?

Of course it is. Without criticism, the growing problem goes unacknowledged and allowed to persist. It should instead be continually called out until it is prioritized, and some of those billions should be spent on researching a solution. (Similarly, a company found to be dumping waste into a river should be held responsible for cleaning up the mess they created. Even if that turns out to be expensive or difficult.)

Expecting a single affected person to solve it for the big corp that caused it is unrealistic. And blaming the victims because they use VPNs or disable cookies is... unhelpful.

[crazygringo]

That's an absurd position to take.

CloudFlare is protecting sites from DDoS attacks and out-of-control bots. They're not the ones causing them. If CloudFlare wasn't asking you to prove you're human, many times the site would be down entirely because it couldn't keep up. Or the site would simply shut down because it couldn't afford it.

And this isn't a question of spending some fraction of billions on researching a solution. There fundamentally isn't one, if you understand how the internet works. This is a problem a lot of people would like to solve better, believe me.

So, yes, criticizing Cloudflare here is as useful as criticizing it for not having faster-than-light communication. There's nothing else it can do. It's not "blaming the victims".

I'm going to assume you simply don't have the technical understanding of how the internet works. Because the position you're taking is simply absurd and nonsensical, and there's no way you would write what you're writing otherwise.