Importing Social Network Profiles

mbozeman wrote: I would like to accept profiles from Social Networking sites.

Hmmm, interesting. Firstly: I am not a lawyer, these are my opinions and you should ignore everything I say as it's probably wrong.

Quote: Do you have to get permission from the sites?

Yes, you'll probably get sued if you don't (depending on whether the copyright belongs with the user or the site). I think the copyright--but this is just a guess--is retained by the company that owns the site.

Quote: Is there a tool I can purchase?

I very much doubt it. I've never heard of one and if there is one available I expect the author will be recieving a DMCA takedown notice very soon.

Quote: Or is there simply code I can place under a link?

Well whatever site you'd like to scrape may have an open API. This will vary from site to site.

A case that is close to what you're proposing is Alexa vs. Ron Hornbaker. That person duplicated their data and they're now suing him. You see what's in those profiles is what makes these companies their money: they encourage people to enter their private details, which are then sold off to marketing firms. These firms then send people junk mail etc. Rupert Murdoch bought Myspace for a reason!

So, unfortunately I doubt these companies will let you take their bread-and-butter without a substantial fee (if at all). But then I may be wrong and they may let you scrape it all, best thing to do is try and find out: the worst they can do is say no.

Let us know how you get on!