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CX2SA > ALL 19.06.11 23:23l 69 Lines 3424 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 11991-CX2SA
Read: GUEST
Subj: QRZ Callsign Database Policy
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<WA7V<CX2SA
Sent: 110619/2121Z @:CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA #:11991 [Minas] FBB7.00e $:11991-CX2SA
From: CX2SA@CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA
To : ALL@WW
QRZ Callsign Database Policy Change
Effective today, the QRZ Callsign database is changing the way we serve
callsign data to our web (browser) based users. These changes have been
brought on by a steadily increasing number of automated systems that access
the QRZ data in so-called hidden or stealth mode. Such systems create a
significant load on the QRZ servers and in doing so, deprive ordinary users
of the performance that they deserve.
These robots (or 'bots') come in many forms. Some are designed to scrape the
entire website for every piece of information we have. Others, known as "log
checkers" are programs written by hams that repeatedly query the QRZ servers
while working through lists of 10's of thousands of callsigns, doing it as
rapidly as possible. Finally, some logging programs provide "auto fill"
features that use the QRZ servers in the background to fetch callsign data
as soon as the user types in a callsign.
For the past several years, QRZ has provided an XML Data service that was
specifically designed to serve automated requests such as those described
above. The XML service is an extremely lightweight and flexible system that
places less than 1/10 of the load on our database that a "stealth" callsign
lookup does on our regular pages. In addition, our advertisers are being
deprived of ad exposures by these programs which routinely ignore or discard
all such non-callsign data as they scrape our site.
Today's changes address these issues with a new set of constraints that we
have developed with the goal of providing fast and fair access to all QRZ
users. The following is a summary of what these measures mean:
Callsign data, including name, address, and other QSL and logging
information will be shown only to registered users of QRZ who are logged in
at the time of the request. Guests that have not logged in will still see
the callsign Bio page and pictures, but no callsign information will be shown.
Registered users who are logged in will see the full detail on callsign pages.
Ham users, i.e. those whose user name matches a callsign in our database,
are limited to 150 callsign page lookups per day, not including their own
callsign page.
Non-ham users, i.e. users who aren't hams or don't have a username that
matches one of our callsigns, will be limited to 25 callsign lookups per day.
QRZ subscribers, of any type, are granted unlimited daily access to the QRZ
callsign data.
These limits are designed for fairness and the vast majority of our ham
users will never be affected by them, aside from the new requirement that
you must be logged in to see callsign data. Note as well that when looking
up or viewing your own callsign page that the act does not count against
your daily lookup limit.
We ask for your support in accepting these changes and understanding that
they were necessary in order to maintain the high level of service and
support that our users have grown accustomed to.
Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ
Publisher, QRZ.COM
aa7bq@qrz.com
Jeffrey M. Swiger
** N8NOE **
*** ARRL Life Member ***
FTP Webpage: http://n8noe.Ham-Radio-Op.net/
AR-DXCluster: telnet://n8noe.HomeIP.net:23
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" Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez "
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