> Crawling and scraping is legal. If your web server serves the content without authentication, it's legal to receive it, even if it's an automated process.
> Cloudflare and their ilk represent an abuse of internet protocols and mechanism of centralized control.
How does one follow the other? It's my web server and I can gatekeep access to my content however I want (eg Cloudflare). How is that an "abuse" of internet protocols?
They exist to optimize the internet for the platforms and big providers. Little people get screwed, with no legal recourse. They actively and explicitly degrade the internet, acting as censors and gatekeepers and on behalf of bad faith actors without legal authority or oversight.
They allow the big platforms to pay for special access. If you wanted to run a scraper, however, you're not allowed, despite the internet standards and protocols and the laws governing network access and free communications standards responsibilities by ISPs and service providers not granting the authority to any party involved with cloudflare blocking access.
It's equivalent to a private company deciding who, when, and how you can call from your phone, based on the interests and payments of people who profit from listening to your calls. What we have is not normal or good, unless you're exploiting the users of websites for profit and influence.
> Cloudflare and their ilk represent an abuse of internet protocols and mechanism of centralized control.
How does one follow the other? It's my web server and I can gatekeep access to my content however I want (eg Cloudflare). How is that an "abuse" of internet protocols?