{"id":1609,"slug":"treb-v-mongohouse-2019-permanent-injunction-scraping","title":"TREB v. Mongohouse (2019) — permanent injunction; scraping MLS by circumventing TPMs is unlawful (Copyright Act s.41 + AUA + third-party licence breaches)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["mls-data-licensing","competition-law-canada"],"reference_body":"**Claim.** TREB obtained a permanent injunction against Mongohouse, a site that scraped MLS data by circumventing TPMs. Framed as Copyright Act s.41 (TPM circumvention) + breach of AUA/confidentiality + third-party licence breaches (Teranet, MPAC). The Federal Court \"makes clear: website scraping is illegal\" in this context.\n\n**Quote.**\n> \"Makes clear: website scraping is illegal.\"\n\n**Source.** torkin.com analysis, accessed 2026-06-21.\n\n**Confidence.** Verified / industry-consensus.\n\n**Caveats.** \"Illegal in this context\" matters — TPM-circumvention scraping was the specific vector. A scraper that did not circumvent TPMs (e.g., respected robots.txt and only collected fully-public content) would face a different analysis.\n\n**Implication / use.** Anchors [[rule-mls-no-scraping-tpm-circumvention-unlawful]]. The clearest \"do not do this\" line for any MLS-data product.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"research-brief-mls-data-inside-the-box-ontario-june-2026","title":"Research notes (capture-layer): inside the MLS box — what an Ontario member agent's account exposes, what goes unused, and what they're licensed to do with it (June 2026)","kind":"research-notes","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"treb-encrypted-token-anti-scraping-tpm","title":"TREB deploys anti-scraping services, firewalls, IDS, and **encrypted token authentication** as Technological Protection Measures (TPMs)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-mls-data-inside-the-box-ontario-june-2026","title":"Research notes (capture-layer): inside the MLS box — what an Ontario member agent's account exposes, what goes unused, and what they're licensed to do with it (June 2026)","kind":"research-notes","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-mls-no-scraping-tpm-circumvention-unlawful","title":"Rule: no scraping. TPM circumvention is unlawful (TREB v. Mongohouse permanent injunction)","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"treb-encrypted-token-anti-scraping-tpm","title":"TREB deploys anti-scraping services, firewalls, IDS, and **encrypted token authentication** as Technological Protection Measures (TPMs)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T10:51:32.810Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T10:51:32.810Z"}