Merge branch 'ps/object-wo-the-repository': Protecting Against AI Scrapers

The administrator of this website has taken drastic measures to safeguard against the scourge of AI companies aggressively scraping websites, leaving resources inaccessible to everyone. This may cause downtime for users, but it's a necessary compromise in a world where artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to the integrity of online content.

Anubis, the administrator's solution, is a Proof-of-Work scheme inspired by Hashcash, a proposed proof-of-work scheme designed to combat email spam. At its core, Anubis seeks to make scraping more expensive for AI companies and bots, rendering them less appealing options. In smaller-scale scenarios, the additional load may seem negligible; however, when multiplied against mass scrapers, it becomes prohibitively costly.

So why does Anubis exist? The answer lies in its ultimate purpose – providing a temporary placeholder solution to enable more time for researchers to develop fingerprinting techniques that can identify headless browsers. By presenting the challenge proof of work page only to users less likely to be legitimate, Anubis narrows down the scope of potential threats, ensuring a more focused effort towards developing robust security measures.

However, this comes with a catch: Anubis requires the use of modern JavaScript features, which plugins like JShelter may disable. Users are advised to disable such plugins for this domain to overcome the challenge. Sadly, even without these plugins, users must enable JavaScript to bypass the hurdle. This is a necessary concession due to the new social contract around website hosting, as AI companies have rewritten the rules of online accessibility.

While Anubis may seem like an imperfect solution, it serves as a temporary stopgap in the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between web administrators and AI scrapers. As researchers continue to develop innovative security measures, such as fingerprinting techniques, this placeholder solution will eventually give way to more robust solutions.

Until then, users are left with the burden of enabling JavaScript or disabling plugins like JShelter to access the website's content. It's a small price to pay for the protection that Anubis provides – a reminder that in the digital age, security is an ongoing battle that demands collective effort and adaptability.