Is there a way around a JSON block?

Question

I accessed the following url last night for the first time and saw the JSON data there without a problem: http://mlb.mlb.com/ws/search/MediaSearchService?team%5Fid=111&start=0&site=mlb&hitsPerPage=12&hitsPerSite=10&type=json&c%5Fid=&src=vpp&sort=desc&sort%5Ftype=custom

This morning, I get the following message: "Please contact Search administrator as request is coming from invalid host/domain "

I am also unable to get a response in Yahoo Pipes.

Is there a way around what appears to be a block? Not sure what else could have happened.

Answer 1

Are you sure that isn't an internal API which got exposed accidentally? If it is, they have the full right to block everyone out (just tested, I get the very same message) or if it's meant for 3rd party developers but through managed API key storage, you have to obtain an API key somehow.

Answer 2

If there's a block, there's a reason.

I'd be very leery of circumventing this particular block - Major League Baseball has proven very litigious in the past. You don't want to get sued for a DMCA violation - they can afford much, much more expensive lawyers than you can.

Answer 3

Your JSON is being served over http. Since your URL worked before and is not working now, the server is most likely checking for an authentication cookie. which has probably expired. You should check to see if there is an API/way to authenticate your call with their service, otherwise even if you find a workaround there is not guarantee that it will continue to work.