"Is this site authorized or endorsed by the DMV? No, and I have no idea how to ask."
Messing around with a computer system without permission (especially one owned by the government) could land you in significant legal trouble. If the DMV wanted to allow you to write apps that made appointments for people, they'd probably have a public API for it.
Obligatory IANAL, and if you are then go ahead and school me, but:
That's not the usual interpretation of the CFAA, which holds that accessing the publicly served pages of a webserver is not accessing a "protected computer". Perhaps if such access were in violation of a Terms of Service or a Cease and Desist letter there would be an argument, but the CA DMV has no terms of service that I could find.
The only sections that apply to a non-protected computer are (6) and (7):
(6) knowingly and with intent to defraud traffics (as defined in section 1029) in any password or similar information through which a computer may be accessed without authorization, if—
(A) such trafficking affects interstate or foreign commerce; or
(B) such computer is used by or for the Government of the United States;
(7) with intent to extort from any person any money or other thing of value, transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any—
(A) threat to cause damage to a protected computer;
(B) threat to obtain information from a protected computer without authorization or in excess of authorization or to impair the confidentiality of information obtained from a protected computer without authorization or by exceeding authorized access; or
(C) demand or request for money or other thing of value in relation to damage to a protected computer, where such damage was caused to facilitate the extortion;
I am neither attempting to defraud nor extort anyone, so... no CFAA violation.
Many, but not all, DMV procedures can be handled at a local AAA office
(http://www.aaa.com). I don't remember all of the details, but it sure
beats lines or appointments. It might be worth noting this on your site,
and it might be a potential way to extend the functionality. I've got no
clue if other Auto Clubs (Emergency Road Side Assistance corps) offer
similar DMV procedure services to their customers, but it kind of makes
sense that they would.
my roommate and I noticed that every time an user starts a session and picks a date this won't be available until the next day (midnight) even if they don't complete the procedure. This is a silly way to prevent collisions I think. My roommate made an appointment right after midnight and many slots were free again.
5 comments
[ 5.5 ms ] story [ 25.1 ms ] threadMessing around with a computer system without permission (especially one owned by the government) could land you in significant legal trouble. If the DMV wanted to allow you to write apps that made appointments for people, they'd probably have a public API for it.
That's not the usual interpretation of the CFAA, which holds that accessing the publicly served pages of a webserver is not accessing a "protected computer". Perhaps if such access were in violation of a Terms of Service or a Cease and Desist letter there would be an argument, but the CA DMV has no terms of service that I could find.
The only sections that apply to a non-protected computer are (6) and (7):
(6) knowingly and with intent to defraud traffics (as defined in section 1029) in any password or similar information through which a computer may be accessed without authorization, if—
(A) such trafficking affects interstate or foreign commerce; or
(B) such computer is used by or for the Government of the United States;
(7) with intent to extort from any person any money or other thing of value, transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any—
(A) threat to cause damage to a protected computer;
(B) threat to obtain information from a protected computer without authorization or in excess of authorization or to impair the confidentiality of information obtained from a protected computer without authorization or by exceeding authorized access; or
(C) demand or request for money or other thing of value in relation to damage to a protected computer, where such damage was caused to facilitate the extortion;
I am neither attempting to defraud nor extort anyone, so... no CFAA violation.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/dmvheader2/contactus
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/dmv/dmvhomes/contactdmv/tec...
The second link is for web site related support, so that might be the best place to ask.