If you leave things out in an open, public space without any access controls, those things are likely to be taken. A note that says "please don't take this" isn

If you leave things out in an open, public space without any access controls, those things are likely to be taken. A note that says "please don't take this" isn't going to change anything and I find it unlikely that you could pursue anyone legally on the grounds of "but I left a note". LinkedIn has every right to define their use policy through technical means. If they want to make it publicly available, then they understand part of that public is their competitors. In my opinion, website operators should not get any legal protections for things they can easily do themselves through readily available technical means. I wholeheartedly disagree that LinkedIn has any right to define the use policy for data it makes publicly available. A wide variety of data is available to the public and you can't simply sue people who use that data in a way that you dislike. If you would like to keep that data private then do so.