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The web does not need gatekeepers: Cloudflare’s new “signed agents” pitch

(positiveblue.substack.com)
454 points positiveblue | 1 comments | 29 Aug 25 16:35 UTC | HN request time: 0.271s | source
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TIPSIO ◴[29 Aug 25 16:57 UTC] No.45066555[source]▶
Everyone loves the dream of a free for all and open web.

But the reality is how can someone small protect their blog or content from AI training bots? E.g.: They just blindly trust someone is sending Agent vs Training bots and super duper respecting robots.txt? Get real...

Or, fine what if they do respect robots.txt, but they buy the data that may or may not have been shielded through liability layers via "licensed data"?

Unless you're reddit, X, Google, or Meta with scary unlimited budget legal teams, you have no power.

Great video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M0QyOp7zqcY

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wvenable ◴[29 Aug 25 18:51 UTC] No.45067955[source]▶
> Everyone loves the dream of a free for all and open web... But the reality is how can someone small protect their blog or content from AI training bots?

Aren't these statements entirely in conflict? You either have a free for all open web or you don't. Blocking AI training bots is not free and open for all.

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BrenBarn ◴[29 Aug 25 18:55 UTC] No.45067998[source]▶
I think that was the point. Everyone loves the dream, but the reality is different.
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wilson090 ◴[29 Aug 25 18:58 UTC] No.45068015[source]▶
How so? If you don't want AI bots reading information on the web, you don't actually want a free and open web. The reality of an open web is that such information is free and available for anyone.
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gradstudent ◴[29 Aug 25 19:02 UTC] No.45068058[source]▶
How is it available for everyone if the AI bots bring down your server?
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ForHackernews ◴[29 Aug 25 19:37 UTC] No.45068453[source]▶
Rate-limits? Use a CDN? Lots of traffic can be a problem whether it's bots or humans.
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1. danudey ◴[29 Aug 25 21:55 UTC] No.45069881[source]▶
You realize this entire thread is about a pitch from a CDN company trying to solve an issue that has presented itself at such a scale that this is the best option they can think of to keep the web alive, right?

"Use a CDN" is not sufficient when these bots are so incredibly poorly behaved, because you're still paying for that CDN and this bad behavior is going to cost you a fortune in CDN costs (or cost the CDN a fortune instead, which is why Cloudflare is suggesting this).