Legal Question in Technology Law in Washington

Accessing competitor's websites

My employer obtains information from the website of another competing firm in our industry (publishing). They caught on and have blocked our IP Address so our IT guy installed an anonymizer to mask our presence. I believe there was talk of a lawsuit against us at one point. Now we have changed the way we access the site such that it is accessed using a VNC Viewer on our desktop. Either way, the company does not have the permission to access this website. Are they breaking the law?


Asked on 10/08/08, 4:49 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Daniel Pepper Pepper Law Group, LLC

Re: Accessing competitor's websites

Has your competitor explicitly forbidden your company from accessing its site, or has it merely blocked your IP address without any explanation? You say your company "does not have the permission to access this website." Is that merely because of the IP address block?

It's probably not a criminal act, but your company may be violating the other company's website terms of use, which may set up a civil cause of action.

Ultimately, I would need to understand more of the facts and history to give you a more detailed answer.

PLEASE NOTE that this post does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied upon for the same.

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Answered on 10/08/08, 5:00 pm


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