Air Canada has initiated legal action against a company for operating an application that scrapes data from airline websites to locate points deals for flights. The lawsuit, filed recently in a Delaware federal court, alleges that the company Localhost, which operates the app Seats.aero, violated Air Canada’s terms and conditions by selling data that was “unlawfully scraped” from its website.
Trademark Infringements and Computer Fraud: The civil complaint also asserts that Localhost, in addition to data scraping, committed multiple trademark infringements by using Air Canada’s logos on the Seats.aero app.
Seats.aero: A Points Deal Search Tool: Seats.aero is a user-friendly search tool enabling individuals to explore flights offered by 13 different airlines. Users can view available flights and their corresponding points costs.
Air Canada’s Perspective: According to Air Canada, this legal action represents the airline’s response to what it perceives as a violation of its terms and conditions regarding data scraping and trademark use. The airline is taking a stance against such practices.
Seats.aero’s Response: Seats.aero’s founder, Ian Carroll, characterized the lawsuit as “the first shot in Air Canada’s war against award availability tools” in a social media post. The website has also released a series of responses to counter Air Canada’s claims.
Counterarguments: In their responses, Seats.aero argues that Air Canada had overlooked their offers to “adjust how we retrieve availability information.” Furthermore, the website contends that the airline did not attempt to contact site administrators before resorting to legal action.
Broader Context: Seats.aero asserts that they are not the only app scraping data from Air Canada’s websites and mentions the existence of “malicious third-parties” engaging in similar practices. Interestingly, the airline has not pursued public legal action against these third parties.
This legal dispute highlights the evolving challenges airlines face in the digital age, especially when it comes to data scraping and the protection of their intellectual property.
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