Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling • Hacker News Board

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#121

Post by mensetmanusman » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:45 PM UTC

lesuorac wrote: post #102

Jury Verdict: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18414221/457/ryanair-da... > Part E: Computer Fraud an Abuse Act Loss > Did Ryanair prove by a preponderance of evidence that it suffered actual economic harm caused by Booking.com violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and, if yes, state the amount. > X Yes _ No > $ 5000 > Part E Nominal Damages > $ 0 > Part F: Punitive Damages > $0 I know Rynair won the lawsuit…

So they could hire some mechanical turks from Africa to type prices into an Excel sheet for $5000.

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#122

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:47 PM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #96

arghwhat wrote: post #22

> A jury in the District Court of Delaware unanimously found that Booking.com violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse act and that it had induced a third party to access parts of Ryanair's website without authorisation "with an intent to defraud," the verdict said I imagine this is limited to a scenario where you: 1. Act as a middle-man for the transaction (as this lawsuit was about resale), 2. Interfere with pricing o…

We used to regulate air travel. It was a lot more expensive then.

[deleted]

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#123

Post by miroljub » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:47 PM UTC

mensetmanusman wrote: post #121

lesuorac wrote: post #102

Jury Verdict: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18414221/457/ryanair-da... > Part E: Computer Fraud an Abuse Act Loss > Did Ryanair prove by a preponderance of evidence that it suffered actual economic harm caused by Booking.com violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and, if yes, state the amount. > X Yes _ No > $ 5000 > Part E Nominal Damages > $ 0 > Part F: Punitive Damages > $0 I know Rynair won the lawsuit…

So they could hire some mechanical turks from Africa to type prices into an Excel sheet for $5000.

Why Africa? Why not southern Wyoming?

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#124

Post by mensetmanusman » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:49 PM UTC

miroljub wrote: post #123

mensetmanusman wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So they could hire some mechanical turks from Africa to type prices into an Excel sheet for $5000.

Why Africa? Why not southern Wyoming?

It’s the openAI way.

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#125

Post by tblt » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:49 PM UTC

codedokode wrote: post #99

jdietrich wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Virtual credit cards are an established financial technology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_payment_number IP addresses are a tradeable commodity.

To issue virtual card numbers you must be a bank, right?

To be issued a virtual card number, you need only be a bank customer

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#126

Post by lesuorac » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:50 PM UTC

ericd wrote: post #83

arghwhat wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This lawsuit is not about scraping, it is about booking.com acting as a reseller of ryanair products without a reseller agreement - to which they mention that booking.com adds their own profits to the transaction and makes ryanair unable to communicate with the real customer - through "unauthorized access" (scraping). What we on hackernews would consider scraping is not covered by this lawsuit, and ryanair's vendetta…

Why is the CFAA mentioned, then? That’s historically been used as a bludgeon against scraping. “A US court ruled that Booking.com violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by accessing part of Ryanair's website without permission, court documents showed, a ruling the airline said would help end unauthorised screen scraping by booking sites.”

Ryanair had previously send Cease & Desist letters to Booking.com so they were very explicitly unauthorized Booking.com from accessing their website.

The part that annoys me is the losses are redacted [1]. Judging by the length of the redaction its much more than the $5000 they were ultimately awarded. I'm also very unclear what harm will actually befall Ryanair if the losses weren't redacted.

[1]: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18414221/354/ryanair-da...

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#127

Post by theptip » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:51 PM UTC

miroljub wrote: post #123

mensetmanusman wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So they could hire some mechanical turks from Africa to type prices into an Excel sheet for $5000.

Why Africa? Why not southern Wyoming?

Quite obviously, minimum wage is many times higher in the US.

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#128

Post by eli » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:52 PM UTC

lesuorac wrote: post #112

eli wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but they have to stop doing it

Or what? They'll have to pay another 5k for 4 years of access (lawsuit was filed in 2020)?

At the least, they would find out real fast how big those punitive damages can get when it's a repeated and willful violation.

CFAA isn't a joke - there are potential criminal penalties to executives and others within the company.

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#129

Post by swarnie » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:52 PM UTC

mensetmanusman wrote: post #121

lesuorac wrote: post #102

Jury Verdict: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18414221/457/ryanair-da... > Part E: Computer Fraud an Abuse Act Loss > Did Ryanair prove by a preponderance of evidence that it suffered actual economic harm caused by Booking.com violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and, if yes, state the amount. > X Yes _ No > $ 5000 > Part E Nominal Damages > $ 0 > Part F: Punitive Damages > $0 I know Rynair won the lawsuit…

So they could hire some mechanical turks from Africa to type prices into an Excel sheet for $5000.

Oh lord you need to rephrase that....

Re: Ryanair wins screen scraping case against Booking.com in US court ruling

#130

Post by soci » Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 2:53 PM UTC

> the companies, which use screen-scraping software to find and resell tickets, add additional charges and make it difficult for the airline to contact passengers.

AFAIK, it's impossible to resell flight tickets in EU, they are attached to real names that are checked upon boarding time. If wonder how did Booking manage to resell Ryanair tickets at scale?