Web crawlers;Robots;Bots application

[ksl]

Do we have any expert web crawling robot developers out there!

I need a hot bot! To deliver a message, rather than collect data, but if it can do two things at once, all the better!

By the way, is it legal?

[bigfilsing]

Instaling anything remotely without the licience holders ( OS ...not the hardware) is illegal. Hence the frequent use of " i accept the terms and conditons " often encountered during the install of most software packages.
As the nature of a bot is to reside on the unknowing owners PC and deliver information to a predetermined destination without his knowledge or consent i think it's fair to asume it's a no no.

On the other hand being a tech geek i find bots really interesting. How they spread and develope is quite incredible.

[jpatokal]

Instaling anything remotely without the licience holders ( OS ...not the hardware) is illegal. Hence the frequent use of " i accept the terms and conditons " often encountered during the install of most software packages.
As the nature of a bot is to reside on the unknowing owners PC and deliver information to a predetermined destination without his knowledge or consent i think it's fair to asume it's a no no.

I think you're talking about a virus or a worm. A bot is just a program that does something automatically on the web, but entirely from the comfort of your very own PC.

[ksl]

Instaling anything remotely without the licience holders ( OS ...not the hardware) is illegal. Hence the frequent use of " i accept the terms and conditons " often encountered during the install of most software packages.
As the nature of a bot is to reside on the unknowing owners PC and deliver information to a predetermined destination without his knowledge or consent i think it's fair to asume it's a no no.

I think you're talking about a virus or a worm. A bot is just a program that does something automatically on the web, but entirely from the comfort of your very own PC.

Yes you are right JP!

Bots are being used for marketing already, viral marketing is gearing up for many companies, also using bots!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_bots