Re: lynx-dev User Agent

[David Woolley]

> It is the right of those sites to deny access to their service to people
> who would use the service in a way the provider does not agree with.
> That doesn't mean that legal categories like "theft of service" are
> appropriate here.

I accept that this might not be the exact legal formulation (for a start
"theft of service" seems to be a US term, it would come under the 
Computer Misuse Act in the UK++).  Some sites put rules on this sort of
thing in their terms of service.  Any UK user of a UK site accessing a site
in breach of the terms of service would be in breach of the Computer
Misuse Act because unauthorised access is always an offence**, a criminal
offence.

Probably the main reasons there is no case law is that prosecuting
individuals would be bad PR and would be very costly, in proportion
to any loss suffered.

++ At one time, people misusing telphones were charged with stealing
electricity, because there was nothing to cover a service.  I'm not sure
how such fraud, or cable TV fraud, would be prosecuted these days.

** I think that there is a gray area as to whether the existence of
a web site represents an invitation to browse, but that can be negated
by a notice on the site stating the true position.

IANAL