What are the “trespass to chattels” claims some companies or website owners have brought?
Some Internet companies have claimed that unauthorized use of their servers, such as unsolicited email or robot-generated hits to websites, are a “trespass” to those servers by depriving the owners of the full use of their machines. eBay won an injunction stopping Bidder’s Edge from automatically spidering the eBay site to generate auction comparison listings, because the robotic crawler used eBay system resources. The caselaw is far from settled in this area, and some commentators argue that technical means to block the use are more appropriate than legal action. See Tom W. Bell’s online casebook for more information about trespass claims.
