**The big picture:** EconStor has deployed Anubis, an AI scraper blocker, to prevent server downtime caused by aggressive data harvesting by AI companies. This system uses a Proof-of-Work scheme to deter mass scraping. **Why it matters:** This move signals a growing trend of data gatekeeping, posing new challenges for workforce intelligence platforms and labor market strategists reliant on public data for analysis. **Between the lines:** - Anubis employs a Hashcash-like Proof-of-Work to make large-scale scraping economically unfeasible. - It's a temporary measure, with future plans to identify and block headless browsers more precisely. - The system requires modern JavaScript, potentially conflicting with privacy plugins. **Staffing & HR impact:** Staffing firms and HR tech companies may face increased costs or reduced access to critical labor market data, impacting competitive intelligence and talent acquisition strategies. Recruiters relying on automated data feeds could see disruptions. **The bottom line:** The era of unrestricted public data scraping for AI is ending, forcing new approaches to market intelligence.