Ryanair Wins Screen Scraping Round

Seems like a Ryanair day today. More good news for them. TUI has agreed to stop using a screen scrape tool to obtain FR inventory access and sell FR product. TUI UK had already lost an initial injunction issued several years ago but finally agreed 2 weeks ago to cease and desist.

Thomas Cook UK now receives the full attention of FR's legal beagles. FR claims that TC is charging a "Fuel Surcharge" of 40 pounds to take onto each FR booking. Thus obfuscating the price. (The fact that almost every seller is doing this may have escaped their notice!).

I will restate my position on this issue. Ryanair and any other airline if they make their policies clear and unequivocal, can prevent people from screen scraping. This indeed is on the terms and conditions. This is not a question of good versus bad, rather what is legally right. So I disagree with Multicom's John Howell on this subject.

Here is the statement on their T&Cs.

"3. Permitted use. You are not permitted to use this website other than for the following, private, non-commercial purposes: (i) viewing this website; (ii) making bookings; (iii) reviewing/changing bookings; (iv) checking arrival/departure information; (v) performing online check-in; (vi) transferring to other websites through links provided on this website; and (vii) making use of other facilities that may be provided on the website. Use of this website for any purpose other than the aforementioned private, non-commercial purposes is prohibited. In particular, use of any automated system or software to extract data from this website for display on any other website (“screen scraping”) is prohibited. In addition, the website may not be used without Ryanair’s prior written consent for providing on a commercial basis details of Ryanair flights to others, offering Ryanair’s services for sale to others, purchasing of Ryanair’s services for resale to others, or the like,."

You can download it from here:

http://www.ryanair.com/site/conditions/copywrite/copywrite_notice.pdf

Oh yes - and Chaps (and Chapesses) in Dublin there is a typo in the paragraph. Not that I am the paragon of spelling and punctuation virtue (thank you Professor Addison).

Cheers