Perhaps this is true in the hyper-competitive world of silicon valley startups where it's better to ask for forgiveness (from a judge) than permission, but outs

Perhaps this is true in the hyper-competitive world of silicon valley startups where it's better to ask for forgiveness (from a judge) than permission, but outside of sv I have never, ever experienced a startup actively exploiting a competitor's systems -- I can't think of a single example. Signing up to a competitor to understand what they're doing, and sometimes cribbing ideas, sure, all the time, but hacking?