

Ask HN: When did Stack Overflow become Attorney Overflow? - jasongullickson

I recently asked a question on Stack Overflow about pulling a page from one website to another and how to work around cross-site-scripting limitations etc.<p>http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2645114/embed-external-website-inside-a-page<p>The first two (almost immediate) responses were to point out that what I wanted to do might be illegal, phishing or otherwise naughty.<p>Now I understand that we all want to help each other out by pointing out legal pitfalls that might derail some large endeavor however at this stage of my project I am simply experimenting and seeking technical programming guidance or ideas from a community of programmers; when the time comes to take this "out of the lab" I'll be seeking legal consult (and probably from lawyers, not programmers).<p>This is reflects a larger trend in general science where the law (and at times, morality) interfere with progress and I found it discouraging to see that this has trickled down all the way to computer science.<p>Is there anywhere to discuss programming in the context of programming without being interrupted by these sermons?
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nudge
Yeah, those answers weren't incredibly helpful in technical terms. The problem
for you is that what you want is actually very, very difficult to achieve, if
indeed it is possible, and this is exactly because, for the most part, the
only reason to do this kind of thing is for sinister reasons (e.g. phishing).
For this reason, and also because website owners just don't tend to like it
when you surround their stuff with your stuff (for a number of reasons),
whatever solution you come up with will probably be worked around.

As I understand things, you've got two ways to do this. Either client-side or
server-side. Client side would be an iframe, for example. I use this on my
website, <http://minutes.at>, which just sticks a timer bar on top of any
website, by sticking the website in an iframe. It's simple and it usually
works, but as you say there are the occasional navigational problems.

Now, for server-side stuff, that's where you've got problems. It might work
better - you could just take the entire website code and stick it in your own
- but that's where you really do enter legal-problem territory.

You shouldn't mind people giving you advice - they are actually trying to help
you avoid getting sued. The reason you found no technical help, though, is
probably because what you want is going to be more or less impossible to
achieve. You got no answers, perhaps, because there are no answers.

Perhaps if you offered a bit more information about what you hoped to achieve,
someone might be able to suggest a way of doing it.

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tmorton
"How do I pick a deadbolt lock, disable an alarm system, and arrange
transportation for a big TV? I'm just wondering! This is theoretical! Stop
lawyering!"

In other words - you might be doing something legitimate, but it sounds fishy.
You can't expect people to help you without further explanation.

~~~
jasongullickson
Apparently you are spot-on.

The severe irony here is that the reason I'm even attempting this is in
response to having recently had my idea oppressed by an equally tyrannical
entity (Apple), so I had the thought of taking the concept, re-implementing it
using open standards and making it cross-platform and open source...but first
I need to build a proof-of-concept.

So garnering this response from the very community I aim to serve and who has
been critical of Apple's actions is just...depressing.

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rcfox
Down-vote those answers and carry on. Maybe add a bit about not wanting legal
advice.

