The Sports Network, a provider of real-time sports data, has
sued a rival, ESPN/Sports Ticker, owned by the Walt Disney
Corporation, arguing that it has been stealing and re-selling its
Minor League Baseball data by illegally 'scraping' The Sports
Network's database.
The complaint alleges that ESPN/Sports Ticker, the larger of the companies, repeatedly gained unauthorised access to The Sports Network's password-protected server, where it electronically or manually 'scraped' Minor League Baseball data from The Sports Network's database with over 64,000 'requests' per week.
In addition, the complaint alleges that company employees masqueraded as staff of The Sports Network in order to communicate with Minor League Baseball clubs and as club staff when dealing with The Sports Network.
The data allegedly stolen includes end-of-innings updates, box scores, individual statistics and play-by-play data. The lawsuit says this data was copied for display on ESPN.com and for resale to others, contrary to The Sports Network's terms, which do not allow for resale.
These actions, says the complaint, are in violation of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and other federal laws.
According to Reuters, ESPN has released a statement saying, "The claims are without merit. We have not done anything wrong and if necessary we will establish that in court."
