> In recognizing that the CFAA is best understood as an anti-intrusion statute and not as a “misappropriation statute,” Nosal I, 676 F.3d at 857–58, we rejected the contract-based interpretation of the CFAA’s “without authorization” provision adopted by some of our sister circuits. Compare Facebook, Inc. v. Power Ventures, Inc., 844 F.3d 1058, 1067 (9th Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 313 (2017) (“[A] violation of the terms of use of a website—without more— cannot establish liability under the CFAA.”); Nosal I, 676 F.3d at 862 (“We remain unpersuaded by the decisions of our sister circuits that interpret the CFAA broadly to cover violations of corporate computer use restrictions or violations of a duty of loyalty.”), with EF Cultural Travel BV v. Explorica, Inc., 274 F.3d 577, 583–84 (1st Cir. 2001) (holding that violations of a confidentiality agreement or other contractual restraints could give rise to a claim for unauthorized access under the CFAA); United States v. Rodriguez, 628 F.3d 1258, 1263 (11th Cir. 2010) (holding that a defendant “exceeds authorized access” when violating policies governing authorized use of databases).
And:
> As one prominent commentator has put it, “an authentication requirement, such as a password gate, is needed to create the necessary barrier that divides open spaces from closed spaces on the Web.” Orin S. Kerr, Norms of Computer Trespass, 116 Colum. L. Rev. 1143, 1161 (2016). Moreover, elsewhere in the statute, password fraud is cited as a means by which a computer may be accessed without authorization, see 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(6),12 bolstering the idea that authorization is only required for password-protected sites or sites that otherwise prevent the general public from viewing the information.
My layman's (IANAL) interpretation of preliminary injunctions are that the case is far from over, and this could be overturned at any time as more deliberation is done (assuming LinkedIn wants to keep throwing money at that relatively slim possibility). But now this research has been done, and future courts have the ability to look to these references and lines of reasoning all in one place.
EDIT: https://twitter.com/OrinKerr/status/1171116153948626944?ref_... is an analysis by the law professor cited above:
> BIG NEWS: 9th Circuit holds that scraping a public website likely does not violate the CFAA, even after website owner prohibits with a cease-and-desist letter; language strongly suggests CFAA only applies to bypassing authentication. Blog post up soon. http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/09/09/17... #N