[j5155]

Use of published information is still always constrained by copyright law. If I had a copyrighted movie playing on my television visible through the window, and you recorded that, redistributing that recording would unambiguously be a violation of copyright law and piracy.

I’m also a little confused by what you’re saying here; are you asking whether scraper bots are illegal, or whether they’re immoral/unethical?

[efitz]

Looking through your window is already covered by a lot of laws (it’s legal sometimes in some places if you didn’t take reasonable effort to prevent it [like closing the blinds], and as long as there was no trespass). Of If I captured a small enough section of a video - say one frame in a photo- that likely is fair use. It is not crystal clear.

I’m getting to the ethical aspect but also trying to be pragmatic. “Publishing a bunch of information on the internet accessible without authentication” is an action that is fundamentally incompatible with controlling the use of that information.

The law cannot substitute for common sense; criminals are gonna crime.