Correct me if I am wrong, but maybe one way to look at the CFAA or situations like this one is that every website has the right to deny access to any particular user.<p>This can be done via firewall ruleset but also via cease and desist letter.<p>That seems reasonable.<p>But... for this type of approach to make sense with respect to a website that wants as much traffic as posssible, we have to make certain assumptions.<p>One assumption is that few if any users will automate their usage.<p>If hundreds of people began to write their own "apps" to automate how they use this website, then the lawyers would have a more serious problem that they might not be able to solve.<p>The website operators might have to reconsider their access model.<p>Could they move to a subscription-only service?<p>Could they use a whitelist of IP address blocks?<p>Could they still be competitive if they began to move away from open access?<p>In my opinion, the practicality of the cease and desist letter approach to website access (anyone can access except if we tell you to stop) is reliant on expected patterns of usage.<p>When kids learn how to program in school, should that day ever come, then they will learn how to automate. They wil be able to write their own "apps".<p>Will cease and desist letters and the judicial system be fully automated at that point? (The evolution of the DMCA comes to mind.)<p>The RIAA and others have tried to sue large groups of users all at once and it did not achieve anything except bad PR. Could website operators bring proceedings against large numbers of users and succeed?