A verdict by a US court indicated that Booking.com breached the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by obtaining unauthorised access to portions of Ryanair’s website as per the court files. Ryanair, the leading airline in Europe by traveller volume, communicated that this ruling would halt illegal screen scraping by reservation websites. Booking.com expressed displeasure with the verdict and intends to contest it.
In the recent past, Ryanair has instigated multiple legal actions against external booking platforms that sell its tickets without consent. The airline maintains that these companies, deploying screen-scraping software to locate and resell tickets, impose extra charges and complicate the process for the airline to communicate with passengers.
The jury of the District Court of Delaware reached a unanimous decision that Booking.com has violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, by persuading a third party to access Ryanair’s website sections without authorisation, with deceptive intentions, as per the ruling. The court also rebuffed Booking.com’s counter-accusations that Ryanair had slandered the booking platform and participated in unjust competition.
Booking.com, in an official statement from a spokesperson, strongly defended that enabling customers to access and compare prices across travel sectors promotes consumer autonomy. Ryanair, who recently entered into agreements with some online travel agents for authorised ticket resale, said it was optimistic that the ruling would establish a precedent.
Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, stated, in anticipation of the verdict ending the unlawful activities of OTA pirates impacting airlines, other travel companies and consumers through internet piracy and customer overcharging. He also expressed his hope that the verdict would compel consumer organisations throughout the UK and Europe to act against illegal screen scraping and excessive charging of customers for flights and ancillary services. – Reuters.