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The best analogy seems to be trespass. A store generally allows anyone to come in. Absent any kind of notice you can go into a store and take pictures. But if t

The best analogy seems to be trespass. A store generally allows anyone to come in. Absent any kind of notice you can go into a store and take pictures. But if there is a big prominent sign on the door that says "no photos allowed" and you go in and take a picture, you aren't just subject to being thrown out. You are (depending on some nuances of state law) committing criminal trespass. Likewise, if for whatever reason, you've already been thrown out and told you are never welcome back then the minute you step in the door you are trespassing. I don't see any reason why e.g. a website that prominently displays a notice saying that scrapping tools aren't welcome and that puts in place reasonable measures to prevent scrapping tools from being used, shouldn't be protected by the law of trespass from people that deliberately evade these preferences. Likewise, I don't see a banned HN poster that creates a new account shouldn't be considered a trespasser. Of course there are issues of prosecutorial discretion and limited law enforcement resources, but that's a separate question than what should or shouldn't be criminal.

twobyfour 9y ago
Of course, trespass laws don't apply directly, but I think that's an excellent analogy and could be an appropriate basis for future laws about web use. As far as I know, the laws against trespass in the physical world derive from common law. It's a shame we don't have a similar common-sense starting point for computing law; but computing is so new (and to many people so esoteric) that few of us have had a chance to develop something like "common sense" about it. The result is that the correct analogy for a situation isn't always obvious. For instance, we could go with the ever popular car analogy: Corporate players want their (public facing) servers to be treated under law not as stores open for business but as cars on a dealer's lot that you're welcome to test drive with permission but that it's illegal to just grab and take for a joyride.

twobyfour 9y ago

Of course, trespass laws don't apply directly, but I think that's an excellent analogy and could be an appropriate basis for future laws about web use. As far as I know, the laws against trespass in the physical world derive from common law. It's a shame we don't have a similar common-sense starting point for computing law; but computing is so new (and to many people so esoteric) that few of us have had a chance to develop something like "common sense" about it. The result is that the correct analogy for a situation isn't always obvious. For instance, we could go with the ever popular car analogy: Corporate players want their (public facing) servers to be treated under law not as stores open for business but as cars on a dealer's lot that you're welcome to test drive with permission but that it's illegal to just grab and take for a joyride.