Companies use a variety of causes of actions to protect their
websites from competitors or others wanting to "scrape"
data from their site using automated tools. Over the years, legal
doctrines such as copyright infringement, misappropriation, unjust
enrichment, breach of contract, and trespass to chattels have all
been asserted, though many of them have limited applicability or
are otherwise imperfect options for site owners. One of the most
commonly used tools to protect against scraping has been a federal
statute: the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The CFAA is a
cybersecurity law passed in 1986 as an amendment to the
Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1894. Originally drafted to
address more traditional computer "hacking," the CFAA
prohibits intentional access to a computer without authorization,
or in excess of authorization. Due to both the criminal and civil
liability that it imposes, the CFAA has been an effective tool to
discourage scraping, with website
