In 2005 the MLS/IDX policy contained the following rule:
“ participants must protect IDX information from misappropriation by employing reasonable efforts to monitor and prevent “scraping” or other unauthorized accessing, reproduction, or use of the BLC database”
The rule has been adopted by many boards across the nation. Recently, MIBOR member, Paula Henry and her broker were reported for a violation of this rule because their IDX was spiderable or indexed. In simplest terms Google is able to read and index the listing info as it appears on the MLS feed. The Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors (MIBOR) ordered a Cease and Desist against both websites, citing the above rule and determining Google is a scraper site. MIBOR’s ruling was then backed by the NAR.
You can read the complete blog post here at Agent Genius.
The post resulted in Jay Thompson and Paula Henry being invited to speak before the MLS Comittee at NAR Midyear in Washington DC. The MLS Committe unanimously voted to amend the language on Thursday, May 14th. We thought we had won! On Saturday, an Indianapolis Director motioned to have the issue deferred back to the MLS Committee and the motioned was approved.
The issue has created a fire storm of opinions around the RE.net. Many REALTORS® believe the original interpretation of the ruling was not completely thought through and are concerned about the effects such decisions will have in the way we conduct our business. The implications the ruling represents in an agents ability to remain competitive online will certainly be restrained. REALTORS are speaking up!
REALTORS® do have an obligation to protect the data from misappropriation, but to say Google is a scraper site to justify the interpretation by MIBOR is a far stretch.We are asking the National Association of Realtors to reconsider the interpretation they have made. In their own words, they have said:
It should be understood that the focus of the rule in question has never been on blocking indexing by search engines. That potential effect was not contemplated when the rule was adopted by the NAR Board of Directors in 2005 and only came to light in the past few weeks. Simply put, the issue is whether - and how - indexing by search engines can be accommodated while at the same time clearly and objectively distinguishing that functionality from the scraping the IDX policy prohibits to protect MLS databases from misuse and misappropriation.
Cliff Niersbach, NAR’s Vice President of Board Policy & Programs
Should this not happen, we will be waiting for the MLS Comittee to hear the case again in November at the NAR convention in San Diego.