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Hackers Threaten to Release Reddit Data Unless API Changes Are Rolled Back

freediverx00

freediverx00

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Aug 5, 2020
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ninethirty said:
Reddit hasn't done anything wrong. They're the ONLY social media company that hasn't been charging for API access. Just because people got used to something doesn't mean they have a right to that thing.
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The issue is not that they’re charging for API access. It’s that they’re charging 20X the industry rate, that they only gave developers 30 days to implement the change, and that just a few months earlier, Huffman had told them there would not be any changes to the API or its pricing structure for the next few years. Then, to add insult to injury, Huffman crapped on developers and users in every interview he’s done since, while also slandering Christian Selig, who fortunately had audio recordings of their conversations to prove who was the one lying.
 
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mdatwood

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Zest28 said:
Reddit has 900 million active users, while there are only 0.9 million Apollo users. We are talking about 0.1% here. Reddit is not so bad if only 0.1% use Apollo in the end.

And Reddit looses money to Apollo, because it doesn't get to show ads to those 0.9 million people. While Youtube makes money of the creators instead of loosing money.
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Let me introduce you to the 90-9-1 rule [1]. My guess is third party client users make up a large number of the 1% generating content.

Also, you can't have it both ways. Either Apollo is costing Reddit tons of missing revenue or they aren't big enough to matter. Which is it?

As I mentioned earlier, I don't think this really about third party clients at all. They just got up with Reddit trying to extract value from the LLMs after the horse already left the barn.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%_rule
 
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TheDauterive

TheDauterive

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ninethirty said:
Reddit hasn't done anything wrong. They're the ONLY social media company that hasn't been charging for API access. Just because people got used to something doesn't mean they have a right to that thing.
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Reddit hasn't done anything illegal; whether or not they've done something wrong is an entirely different matter. If your ethics deem maximizing shareholder value and (most importantly for an IPO) creating the largest cash windfall for early investors to be the greatest good, you're undoubtedly correct. But my guess is Reddit's actions fail to pass ethical muster on any number of deontological and utilitarian moral standards. A lot of people believe excessive greed is simply wrong. Others think being stubbornly bullheaded and refusing to even consider viable compromises that will allow users to continue using their preferred app and let you get richer is a selfish, a**hole move. And I would hope even you would agree that smearing the reputation of a developer by lying about the quality of his code and suggesting he threatened you is wrong.

But even if we can't agree on any of that, the one thing I'm sure we can agree on is that people don't like it when you intentionally damage their user experience because you want to make more money. Nothing Reddit is doing is for their user base. They know they're alienating users, they're just betting they won't become so unhappy that they actually walk away. Well my girlfriend and I did, and hopefully enough people do the same that the market takes notice. I think you'll agree that there's nothing wrong with that either, right?
 
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xraydoc

xraydoc

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Oct 9, 2005
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While what Reddit is doing is pretty ******, I don't think extortion is going to get them to reverse course. Only public and advertiser pressure is going to get them to even give one second of thought to changing their plans, or perhaps an abandonment by every single moderator on the site (who are all volunteers).

And while it almost worked for Twitter, this isn't making the same news headlines as did all the Twitter blowup.

Unfortunately, I think either Reddit users will either have to live with it or simply stop using the site. But I don't see Reddit management changing their minds.
 
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AdamNC

AdamNC

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80% of Reddit users use the Reddit app, or the Website. Not 3rd party apps. So a because like a lot of things these day a minority of users moan and scream the majority of users get screwed by them. Why don’t those 20% just leave and form a new site? Or just leave? I have zero issues with the Reddit app. It works fine for me. And the other 80% of users.
 
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staypuftforums

staypuftforums

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FHoff said:
I don’t understand why so many people still use Reddit The few times I've been there it seems like the cesspool of the internet.
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It's generally where the lowest of the low congregate. The reddit moderators are a whole different level of disgusting cretins.
 
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GizmoDVD

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The most pathetic thing is users here saying this a good thing and screw Reddit all because they asked someone who had paid $0 to make millions off their platform to finally pay up.
 
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GizmoDVD

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0ceans said:
This major corporation lied about an indie dev blackmailing them. When he released the (legal) recording of the conversation where it's clear that this was a misrepresentation, they played the victim saying "oh wow, how can we trust somebody who releases private conversations?"
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Apollo was clearly trying to get them to pay him $10 million to keep quiet, and when the CEO scoffed, he back peddled. Since Apollo has made millions, next time he should get a lawyer and not speak for himself.

Stop trying to make a hero out of someone who has made millions off of an API they paid $0 for.
 
Attirex

Attirex

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Love-hate 🍏 relationship said:
damn, you really overflow with empathy
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OK, maybe a bit harsh, but my actual point is that the few times I've read subreddits, I've seen a lot of soul-baring, gut-wrenching posts about people's conditions and I'm like what the **** ....you really need to talk to someone.

There's even a dedicated subreddit called "Ask a Dad" or something similar, where redditors can ask (presumed) dads life questions. That's either really awesome or the most depressing thing I've ever seen in my life.
 
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GizmoDVD

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123jmail

123jmail

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Jun 18, 2007
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Companies that make their money *freely* off the risks navigated and capital invested by another company have to pay at some point. Fortnight...oops I mean Apollo, has made money for years off the market that Reddit created. Now that Reddit wants to collect a tax for allowing other for-profit ventures to make money off the market that Reddit had the vision and capital to create, it seems like everyone wants to cry, "Foul!" I don't agree.

If you don't like the rules that Reddit puts in place for the market that they built, it's simple, geaux build your own market. No one forces you to use their market.
 
BadMacRumours

BadMacRumours

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Mar 17, 2022
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123jmail said:
Companies that make their money *freely* off the risks navigated and capital invested by another company have to pay at some point. Fortnight...oops I mean Apollo, has made money for years off the market that Reddit created. Now that Reddit wants to collect a tax for allowing other for-profit ventures to make money off the market that Reddit had the vision and capital to create, it seems like everyone wants to cry, "Foul!" I don't agree.

If you don't like the rules that Reddit puts in place for the market that they built, it's simple, geaux build your own market. No one forces you to use their market.
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Again, charging for access is fair enough, but at the price Reddit wants, it’s not viable. They’re clearly trying to price-out competing apps so everyone has no choice but to use their own.
 
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JosephAW

JosephAW

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May 14, 2012
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Software we purchased only has support in Reddit. Hopefully they will move to another forum site. :rolleyes:
 
freediverx00

freediverx00

macrumors regular
Aug 5, 2020
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ksj1 said:
The hypocrisy of the CEO is pretty astounding. He complains about 3rd party apps making money when his entire business is predicated on the free labor of moderators.
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He also complains about companies scraping Reddit content for free to train their AI models on, while ignoring the fact that all of that content is generated by users who receive no compensation.
 
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