Irish Court Ruled Ryanair Can Sue Screen Scraper Websites

Irish Court Ruled Ryanair Can Sue Screen Scraper Websites <

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Irish Court Ruled Ryanair Can Sue Screen Scraper Websites By Mike Mitchell

		March 2, 2010 - Ireland’s Ryanair, on Monday welcomed the judgment of the High Court in Dublin, which confirmed Ryanair’s legal right to bring proceedings in Ireland against foreign screen scraping websites which breach the Terms of Use of the Ryanair website and Ryanair’s exclusive distribution policy. Ryanair initiated High Court proceedings against German screen scrapers “Billigfluege” and “Ticket Point” in September 2009, following their refusal to stop unauthorized scraping and mis-selling of tickets from Ryanair’s website. Both Billigfluege and Ticket Point argued during a 4-day hearing last December that Irish courts do not have jurisdiction over these proceedings and that they should have been brought before German courts.

In a landmark judgment Mr Justice Michael Hanna found that: “The exclusive jurisdiction clause contained in [Ryanair’s] website’s Terms of Use was binding on [Billigfuege and Ticket Point] in circumstances where those Terms were at all times available for inspection by [Billigfuege and Ticket Point] as users of or visitors to the website, [Ryanair] having taken appropriate steps to ensure that the Terms were brought to the user’s attention through their inclusion on the website via a clearly visible Hyperlink.” Mr Justice Michael Hanna further stated “If you use the site, you agree not to breach its terms and if you do so, the exclusive jurisdiction clause set out in the Terms of Use makes it clear that Ireland is the appropriate jurisdiction for the purposes of litigating any disputes that may arise as a result.” Screen scrapers who mis-sell Ryanair tickets at inflated prices to consumers are in breach of Ryanair’s Terms of Use. Today’s High Court ruling confirmed that screen scraper websites, whether they are based in Ireland or abroad, can be sued in the Irish Courts if they act in breach of the Terms of Use of www.ryanair.com. This will expedite Ryanair’s pro-consumer campaign against unauthorized mis-selling screens crapers who are overcharging consumers millions of Euros in often hidden fees and mark-ups.

Ryanair’s Juliusz Komorek said: “Ryanair is delighted with this significant victory against screen scraper websites. This High Court ruling in the Billigfluege and Ticket Point cases means that we can now expedite court proceedings in Ireland against screen scrapers who download flight and price information from Ryanair’s website with the view to mis-selling Ryanair tickets at inflated prices to unsuspecting consumers. We are now going to step up pressure on these ticket tout screen scrapers which we believe should be outlawed for good in the interests of consumers.

All genuine price comparison websites can enter into a license agreement with Ryanair to allow them to legally provide consumers with price comparisons, but we will not allow any screen scraper website to mis-sell Ryanair flights at inflated prices.”

Ryanair is an Irish low cost airline with its head office at Dublin Airport, Ireland, and with primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport. Ryanair operates more than 200 Boeing 737-800 aircraft on over 1000 routes across Europe and Morocco from its 40 bases. The airline has been characterized by rapid expansion, a result of the deregulation of the air industry in Europe in 1997 and the success of its low cost business model. Ryanair is the largest airline in Europe in terms of passenger numbers and the largest in the world in terms of international passenger numbers.

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