Originally Posted by
vbroucek
OK - I am one of those who can be seen critical of KVS. So put it straight:
- I have been KVS subscriber for long time and was extremely happy until things started to go pear-shaped.
- I am one of the people who at one stage analyzed the tool (I have qualification for that and I do it for living - I am forensic expert in the field of computer crime and fraud. I regularly present my opinions at courts of law in several jurisdictions) and realized that not everything was exactly "kosher"... However, doing so, I have breached KVS Tools TOS, so I decided to keep quiet... Well, was forced by KVS, but that's between me and KVS.
- I was due for renewal in November 2014 and since functions that I used most (revenue availability) were quickly becoming either unavailable or unreliable, I decided to stop supporting rather dubious business, that; a) has one or two servers hosted in Seattle, b) another in Chicago, and c) domain registration is issued to post box in Funafuti, on tiny atoll of Tuvalu in South Pacific Ocean.
- I can technically prove everything I said.
On the other hand, as a long term user I have to say following:
- IMHO if not all then many subscribers to KVS are responsible for the fact that KVS lost most of the sources of relatively cheep (nearly free) data. There are so many posts on FT, Milepoint and other forums, using KVS to help people to ascertain load on flights etc. I did that too before I realized that sources are precious and I should not probably do it. Guilty as charged.
- KVS did great job while it was possible. However, IMHO, it is now time to wind that company down, and admit, it is not possible anymore for revenue availability...
- KVS is still great for searching award availability. Yes, it is using dubious methods and some can be considered unethical or even illegal, but hey, time is money...
I am also one who is clearly critical. I wish I had performed some DD when I was a subscriber. Had I done that, I would have found that these issues really started popping up around 2011.
In some cases (those where KVS scrapes a site with no specific TOS against it, that may be the case with GOL) the sources of the data present a moral issue, in others (where a specific TOS prohibits what KVS does, or directing users to create a fraudulent account at a university), it's not a moral issue, it's a legal issue (perhaps you can make it a moral issue if the question you're asking yourself is, "is it ok to violate TOS or break the law if it's highly unlikely that I will get caught/have any liability for doing so?").
Regardless, the truly unfortunate thing is that the tool (when it functioned with everything working and accurate) was very useful. Unfortunately, the business model has taken a negative trajectory in response to TOSes being added to sources of data that prohibit what KVS does, etc. I don't think there is a way to get this back on track and I agree with this poster, it's time to wind it down.