OFX CONNECT PROBLEMS

[Jerry]

--SEE REMARKS BELOW--

Message: 3
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:19:34 +0100
From: Martin Preuss <aquamaniac at gmx.de>
Subject: Re: Aqbanking alternative
To: gnucash-user at gnucash.org
Message-ID: <200911281819.34904.aquamaniac at gmx.de>
Content-Type: Text/Plain;  charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi,

as David Reiser wrote at least a few times there are problems with OFX Direct 
Connect which I as AqBanking developer can't influence.

The OFX DirectConnect protocol knows some variables which must be set 
appropriately for the connection to succeed. However, the banks don't publish 
this vital information to the general public, as it seems. Only Intuit seems 
to get the information needed...

Those variables  are e.g. APPID, APPVER, uses OFX header version and some 
more...

Add to that the fact that some banks now added a special login extension for 
which details are hard to come by (if at all)...

So until the banks drop their obfuscation policy and publish the information 
needed for third-parties (i.e. all non-Intuit developers) there isn't much we 
can do besides trial-and-error...

Unfortunately, given the experience some of us had with US banks I don't think 
changes in their policy can be expected in the near future...


Regards
Martin



REMARKS--

Martin and others, some people of influence should consider contacting the appropriate United States federal agencies because it seems that this violates anti-trust laws.   If somebody gets a grass roots effort, petitions, whatever and brings this matter to the attention of the agencies that have jurisdiction, perhaps something will get done to overturn such "illegal" policies.  It just takes some people, or groups, making some noise often for this to happen - so if anyone knows the appropriate agencies, please publish that information here and I, for one, will gladly write them and complain.

Jerry Boor in Michigan