Reversing the flow of information

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It has long been a well-known secret that the Ermarian Network was capable of posting to the Spiderweb forums. This was done by the Endeavor site for several months (the digest was discontinued soon after the update was automatized), and the api for accessing the forum is shared between PPP and Endeavor.

This essentially means that PPP could offer a form for posting a reply, and send this request (server-side) to the forum. In fact, as of a fast prototype I made yesterday, and a module I wrote today, it now does so. I have used this feature several times.

This feature naturally presents a security issue in letting the site authenticate itself as a member. The site requires the user's authentication data, and the appropriate disposal of this data is a matter of trust. In other words, if I told you that the site will not store your password or read your private messages, you would have to take my word for it. For the foreseeable future, the feature will therefore remain out of production. (Note: Numerous social networking sites already ask you to allow them to log into your email account or other social networking sites in order to "import your contact list". Needless to say, this is a ridiculously insecure feature, especially considering that social sites are already in the business of buying personal data in exchange for convenience).