eBay, Inc. v. Bidder's Edge, Inc.
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
100 F. Supp. 2d 1058 (N.D. Cal. 2000)
Bidder's Edge (BE) (defendant) ran an auction-aggregation site that used an automated program to search eBay's (plaintiff) database up to 100,000 times daily; after licensing negotiations between the two companies failed and eBay repeatedly told BE it lacked permission to access the database, BE continued doing so anyway. eBay sued for trespass to chattels and sought a preliminary injunction.
Whether a defendant is liable for trespass based on accessing a computer system if the defendant intentionally and without authorization interferes with the plaintiff's possessory interest in the system, and the unauthorized use proximately results in damage to the plaintiff.