Originally Posted by
RatherBeInYOW
I am not a lawyer so I can't comment on the trademark stuff or other claims, although from what I know of this area they seem specious.
But as a software engineer the technology part (from what I can read in the complaint) ... is some horseshit. There are technological solutions to this problem, but AC didn't implement them and basically tried to use an Akamai front end to block access (and and a robots.txt file - lol) along with some legalese on their webpage to claim that this isn't allowed. They're also not forging credentials, they're just altering the HTTP header which isn't a crime. Neither is screen scraping, which has been upheld repeatedly (
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/0...peals-declares).
Whatever software engineer wrote up the technology part of the complaint for ACs lawyers should be ashamed of themselves. I hope this guy has the EFF on speed dial and I hope AC loses. If you don't want people grabbing this information put it behind an authenticated API call, not on the open internet.
Including the details about the Discord messages, the case against the scraper gains more weight. The individual was aware his activities were causing disruptions and took deliberate actions to circumvent barriers. This puts a different spin on the "open door" analogy. It's not just walking into an open house anymore; it's more like finding the door locked, then actively picking the lock to get in.
While this doesn't let Air Canada off the hook for their lack of robust security measures, it does provide them with a stronger position in the lawsuit. Both parties seem to have lessons to learn here. Air Canada needs to up their technological game to prevent such incidents, and the scraper needs to recognize the ethical and legal boundaries of his actions.