“Unable to scrape Reddit straight, they masks their identities, disguise their areas, and disguise their net scrapers to steal Reddit content material from Google Search,” Lee stated. “Perplexity is a prepared buyer of at the very least considered one of these scrapers, selecting to purchase stolen information moderately than enter right into a lawful settlement with Reddit itself.”
On Reddit, Perplexity pushed again on Reddit's claims that Perplexity ignored requests to license Reddit content material.
“Unfaithful. At any time when anybody asks us about content material licensing, we clarify that Perplexity, as an application-layer firm, doesn't prepare AI fashions on content material,” Perplexity stated. “By no means has. So, it's inconceivable for us to signal a license settlement to take action.”
Reddit supposedly “insisted we pay anyway, regardless of lawfully accessing Reddit information,” Perplexity stated. “Bowing to sturdy arm techniques simply isn't how we do enterprise.”
Perplexity's spokesperson, Jesse Dwyer, informed Ars the corporate selected to publish its assertion on Reddit “as an example a easy level.”
“It's a public Reddit hyperlink accessible to anybody, but by the logic of Reddit's lawsuit, should you point out it or cite it in any means (which is your job as a reporter), they could simply sue you,” Dwyer stated.
However Reddit claimed that its enterprise and fame have been “broken” by “misappropriation of Reddit information and circumvention of technological management measures.” With no licensing deal guaranteeing that Perplexity and others are respecting Reddit insurance policies, Reddit can't management who has entry to information, how they're utilizing information, and if information use conflicts with Reddit's privateness coverage and consumer settlement, the criticism stated.
Additional, Reddit's fearful that Perplexity's workaround may catch on, doubtlessly messing up Reddit's different licensing offers. All of the whereas, Reddit famous, it has to take a position “important sources” in anti-scraping know-how, with Reddit finally struggling damages, together with “misplaced income and enterprise alternatives, reputational hurt, and lack of consumer belief.”
Reddit's hoping the court docket will grant an injunction barring corporations from scraping Reddit content material from Google SERPs. It additionally desires corporations blocked from each promoting Reddit information and “growing or distributing any know-how or product that's used for the unauthorized circumvention of technological management measures and scraping of Reddit information.”
If Reddit wins, corporations may very well be required to pay substantial damages or to disgorge income from the sale of Reddit content material.
Advance Publications, which owns Ars Technica guardian Condé Nast, is the most important shareholder in Reddit.
