The professional networking company LinkedIn recently filed a lawsuit against 100 unnamed individuals for using automated software programs (or “bots”) to harvest user profiles from its website. The lawsuit is a preliminary step to revealing the identities of the scrapers — LinkedIn intends to ask the court to reveal the true identities behind the scrapers’ IP addresses — and a way to maintain its exclusive hold on users’ resumes.
LinkedIn’s case accuses the anonymous scrapers of building a massive network of automated software programs and circumventing the restrictions LinkedIn uses to prevent profile collection by undesirable third parties.
Similar Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) lawsuits have been favourable to the plaintiffs, so LinkedIn has a good chance of stopping these unlawful automatic data scrappers.
Source: http://tcrn.ch/2aWlJZp
