Why do I get this error message "FORBIDDEN" when trying to read web data?

I'm trying to copy the text from this URL: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4119881-activision-blizzard-atvi-q3-2017-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single

And get the following (attached) error message.

Why am I getting this and how can I work around it? All I simply want to do is copy the text data on the page.

Thank you!

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

The page has protections against automated access.

For example when you access with webread() then by default no browser information is sent.

[Mark C]

Thank you, Walter. Do you know of a good workaround using MatLab or any other methods? Or do the page restrictions basically prohibit any sort of automated process to run on it?

[Walter Roberson]

The first thing I would try changing would be the UserAgent https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/weboptions.html