[Zak]

> I'm kind of tired of this tech culture meme, that something should be allowed because it is easy.

It's not just that it's easy; it's that it can be done merely by thinking in a particular way about information that's public or that was freely given to the person doing it. I'm not sure the fact that the thinking is done mainly with the aid of an algorithm changes the fundamental concept.

It probably shouldn't be illegal to think about things or to process data you've obtained legitimately whether it's easy or hard.