Automated extensions, scripts, bots, etc violate Vine terms and are unfair

There have been claims by someone who makes money selling the use of an automated extension that his extension doesn't violate Vine terms and conditions. I think it clearly does.

This matters because those who feel obligated to keep the terms they agree to are at a huge disadvantage compared to those who cheat (knowingly or not) by using the extensions. Those automated systems are greatly unfair to those who keep the rules.

For me, this is primarily a matter of fairness, but it may have implications for the future of the Vine program as well, as it's becoming less and less attractive as the automated systems take an increasingly large share of the most popular items. This results in higher turnover among Viners, less satisfaction among those who stay, and probably less quality in reviews from the turnover and dissatisfaction, as well as from cheaters not having time to properly review all the stuff they get.

Hard to say whether Amazon cares about any of that. I do.

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Vine has sent out messages about this. They used to be available in our Vine messages, but all the older messages are gone now. Here's what one of them said (thanks to u/princesscamo for posting this a couple years ago):

October 22, 2021

Dear Vine Voices,

This is a quick message to remind you that using robots (“bots”), scripts, or other similar automation tools to automatically select/order Vine items violates Amazon’s Conditions of Use and may result in your Vine membership being terminated.

Thank you for your cooperation
The Vine Team

Those who make excuses for the automated systems say they don't automatically select or order anything, so they don't violate that.

I think that's a misreading, that they automate part of the selection process, which is part of what the message refers to. But that doesn't really matter, as the message gives the basis for the rule as Amazon’s Conditions of Use. Here's the relevant provision (emphasis added):

This license does not include any resale or commercial use of any Amazon Service, or its contents; any collection and use of any product listings, descriptions, or prices; any derivative use of any Amazon Service or its contents; any downloading, copying, or other use of account information for the benefit of any third party; or any use of data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools. All rights not expressly granted to you in these Conditions of Use or any Service Terms are reserved and retained by Amazon or its licensors, suppliers, publishers, rightsholders, or other content providers. No Amazon Service, nor any part of any Amazon Service, may be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, visited, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without express written consent of Amazon.

That's extremely broad, and covers entirely what the automated systems do, with no possible way around it. Such automated systems are explicitly forbidden. Both Vine Helper and, especially UltraViner, run afoul of that. Both collect and use the info from the listings. And at least UV charges some subscribers for it.

I think Vine customer service is next to useless in interpreting Vine rules, but for those with more faith in them, there's this as well (from u/camon88 a couple years ago, emphasis added):

Hello,

I reviewed your comment and understand your concern regarding Vine Terms.

Firstly, we do not tolerate any sort of "bot" or script usage. This is in violation of our terms. Please be aware that we do take this very seriously but we cannot catch every individual who are violating these terms all at once. I can assure you that the Vine development team is working on a solution to better purge users that are utilizing technologies to give them an unfair advantage. We purge Vine accounts on a weekly basis and every 6 months we do a deeper analysis to remove accounts in greater numbers.

I would request you to check the guidelines for more information http://www.amazon.com/review-guidelines

If you have additional comments or questions, please contact us at https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/vine

Your cooperation and understanding is highly appreciated at this very moment.

Thank you for being a Vine member and posting reviews that would really help our customers.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

We'd appreciate your feedback. Please use the buttons below to vote about your experience today.

Best regards,
Shravan
Amazon.com

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So, there should be no question about this: the automated systems do violate the terms we agree to, are cheating, and are grossly unfair to those who keep the rules.