KieranMac

Same thing just happened to me. Had a two-week stay in Costa Rica at a place that advertised itself as a serene and tranquil spot with wildlife. Instead, it was non-stop construction 11 hours a day, 6 days a week. The host knew about it before we arrived. Only found out about it after we got there. Pretty much every appliance in the house broke while we were there. The host was also rude and condescending throughout the process.

We gave a two-star review, and it never appeared on the site. Host is still a super host.

This headline is horribly misleading. The Ninth Circuit said that web scraping is not a violation of the CFAA, but that other causes of action, such as trespass to chattels, breach of contract, misappropriation, may still apply. Just super irresponsible writing.

Still, a very good day for scraping.

Haha! Given that the article is about scraping, I figured some prudence with respect to people copying and pasting my work somewhere else was warranted!

Thanks, Tucker!

American Airlines is alleging 12 legal claims:

1. Breach of Contract 2. Tortious Interference with a Contract 3. Unfair Competition by Misappropriation 4. Trespass 5. Trademark infringement 6. Dilution 7. Dilution under Texas State Law 8. False Designation of Origin 9. Copyright Infringement 10. CFAA 11. Violation of Texas Harmful Access by Computer Act 12. Unjust Enrichment

Someone asked "what is their case, exactly?"

American Airlines is alleging 12 legal claims:

1. Breach of Contract 2. Tortious Interference with a Contract 3. Unfair Competition by Misappropriation 4. Trespass 5. Trademark infringement 6. Dilution 7. Dilution under Texas State Law 8. False Designation of Origin 9. Copyright Infringement 10. CFAA 11. Violation of Texas Harmful Access by Computer Act 12. Unjust Enrichment

As an attorney who focuses in this area, I can say that the most interesting question is first where this case will be decided. Texas, and the Northern District of Texas in particular, has historically been the worst jurisdiction in the country for web scrapers to litigate. Southwest has a long history of litigating successfully there, including two cases from just last year. If TPG is going to win, first they'll need to win the jurisdictional question of whether the case will be decided in Delaware or Texas.

Eric is brilliant, and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of internet law. He's also an incredibly kind, generous, and open-minded person. That said, I will refrain from any commentary on Section 230, as I have zero expertise on that issue!

Leadville is just 45 minutes up the road for me, so I'm kind of cheating!

Yes, I would agree with that first sentence. After Van Buren, web scraping alone would now be significantly less likely to be a basis for federal criminal prosecution under the CFAA.

Given the nuances of browsewrap contract enforceability, perhaps not as many as you suggest. The tricky part with navigating this gray area is knowing the likely circumstances when a contract of adhesion may give rise to an actual legal claim. There are patterns.

The Zyte article isn't inaccurate; it's just a simplified assessment of a complicated issue. If you'd like a more nuanced perspective on this, please read my guest post of Prof. Goldman's blog.

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2021/06/more-perspecti...

Prof. Eric Goldman's blog is probably the #1 site historically on scraping and the law. I've contributed to it a few times.

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2021/06/more-perspecti...

The name of my firm is McCarthy Garber Law. I write about scraping there when I have time (which I rarely do)!

There are pro-social and anti-social uses of web scraping. If you have ever used Kayak or any other price discovery or price comparison website, you've relied on web scraping to provide you a service.

As a lawyer whose primary focus is in web scraping, this article is in many ways misleading and inaccurate. While it is true that the Van Buren case is generally positive for web scraping, the overall legal landscape is still murky. The main battleground for web scraping legal issues is shifting from the CFAA to breach of contract and various state-law issues, including misappropriation, unjust enrichment, and trespass to chattels.

In my opinion, 2021 was a bad year for the law as it relates to web scraping. The Supreme Court remanded hiQ Labs, and many high-profile lower-court cases ended badly for web scrapers. It's a darker shade of gray than it was in 2020. It can be navigated, but it's tricky.