> many terms of service prohibit interacting with their website in an automated fashion,
Ignoring the fact that I didn't agree to anything just by virtue of requesting a page from a webserver (and, your server sent me the data!), that's such a meaningless phrase that it's certainly unenforceable. What is an automated fashion? Do I have to manually craft my HTTP request by hand-pulsing a voltage on an Ethernet cable, or do I have your permission to let Chrome automate that for me?
Ignoring the fact that I didn't agree to anything just by virtue of requesting a page from a webserver (and, your server sent me the data!), that's such a meaningless phrase that it's certainly unenforceable. What is an automated fashion? Do I have to manually craft my HTTP request by hand-pulsing a voltage on an Ethernet cable, or do I have your permission to let Chrome automate that for me?