Federal Register and eCFR Announce New Access Rules for Automated Programs

You might care about this because the Federal Register and eCFR websites have changed how people can access their information. These sites noticed that many automated programs were heavily using their systems. Because of this, they are now limiting how these programs can access data. If you want to automatically gather data from FederalRegister.gov or eCFR.gov, you now need to use their developer APIs. These are special tools designed for programs to connect to their systems. If you are a human user and you see a message asking you to 'Request Access,' it means the system thinks you might be an automated program. In this case, you will need to complete a CAPTCHA. A CAPTCHA is a small test, like identifying pictures or typing distorted text, to prove you are a human. You might be asked to do this test more than once, as it is part of the website's security. This change aims to protect the websites from too much automated activity while still letting legitimate users and developers get the information they need. What is particularly interesting about this is the way government websites are adapting to modern online challenges. The Federal Register and eCFR are important public resources. They contain many legal documents and regulations. The need to implement APIs and CAPTCHAs shows how even official government data sources must protect their systems from overwhelming traffic. This move balances making public information available with ensuring the stability and security of their online platforms. It sets a precedent for how other government services might manage access to their data in the future. It is a practical step to maintain service quality for everyone. This shift highlights the ongoing effort to manage digital resources effectively. People who would be most interested in this change include software developers and programmers who build applications that rely on government data. Legal tech companies that scrape data for their services will also find this very relevant. Researchers and academics who use automated methods to study government regulations or policies should pay attention. Anyone who uses web scraping tools to collect information from FederalRegister.gov or eCFR.gov will be directly affected. Even regular human users who frequently visit these sites and might be occasionally challenged by a CAPTCHA should understand why this is happening. Basically, anyone interacting with these specific government websites, especially those doing so in an automated way, needs to be aware of these new access rules.