• LinkedIn can't use anti-hacking law to block web scraping, judges rule

    From Monty Solomon@21:1/5 to All on Wed Apr 20 09:34:13 2022
    HiQ can keep scraping LinkedIn member profile data as court upholds
    injunction.

    By Jon Brodkin

    In a case involving LinkedIn, a federal appeals court reaffirmed
    Monday that web scraping likely doesn't violate the Computer Fraud and
    Abuse Act (CFAA).

    The ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit drew a
    distinction between data that is password-protected and data that is
    publicly available. That means hiQ Labs - a data analytics company
    that uses automated technology to scrape information from public
    LinkedIn profiles- can continue accessing LinkedIn data, a three-judge
    panel at the appeals court ruled ...

    https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/04/linkedin-cant-use-anti-hacking-law-to-block-web-scraping-judges-rule/

    ***** Moderator's Note *****

    Crush-them-under-our-thumb department:

    Microsoft owns LinkedIn. The article quotes from a "Cartooney" letter
    that M$ sent to the HiQ organization, predicting criminal charges
    would be brought against those whom dared to copy LinkedIn pages, even
    though they're available to the public.

    HiQ had no choice but to fight back, and it looks like they've "won."
    It may be a Pyrrhic victory, however - which I'd bet is what M$
    intended to happen anyway.

    Bill Horne
    Moderator

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