Ryanair’s initial victory against Booking.com for alleged “screenscraping” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) was overturned by a judge in the Delaware District Court and could now face a retrial on a technicality.
The jury had previously ruled in favor of Ryanair last July, but the judge determined that Ryanair did not prove a loss of at least $5,000, a necessary threshold for civil liability under the CFAA.
Judge William Bryson of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted Booking.com’s motion for judgment as a matter of law, affecting Ryanair’s claims for damages.
An amended judgment is to be prepared by Booking.com by January 29, 2025, with the judge’s ruling remaining open to appeal, potentially leading to a new trial depending on the outcome of appellate proceedings.
The case was one of the first civil cases under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Actto go to trial.
The judge determined that Ryanair “did not meet its burden of proving at least $5,000 of loss attributable to Booking.com, which is a prerequisite to any finding of civil liability under the CFAA. If the reviewing court should disagree with my analysis of the ‘loss’ issue in a way that undermines the judgment but does not necessarily compel the re-entry of judgment in favour of Ryanair, a new trial may be required.
“In other circumstances, vacatur or reversal may require further proceedings before this court, but would not necessarily require a new trial.
“I will therefore postpone ruling on whether a new trial should be granted pending the outcome of any appellate proceedings that may be instituted in this case.”
The judge’s ruling can still be appealed and could ultimately require a new trial.
