[enterabdazer]

I don't know the details of the code, so I'm left with questions.

Is the only difference between using this library and using Instagram's mobile app the fact that the library is not the "right" web browser?

Isn't the library simply a different web client accessing a publicly available API? And requests from the library are properly authenticated / authorized by Instagram's servers through normal means (the library isn't bypassing some mechanism, it's just not the official app)?

If it's true that it's just a different API client, then there may be some TOS violation, but isn't DMCA an overreach? Is there any validity to the claim?

[buckminster]

A TOS violation is an unauthorised access which is a federal crime. See, for example, the case of Aaron Swartz. Using the DMCA seems preferable. Changing these laws would be better still.

[Keverw]

I know it's been interpreted as that under the CFAA, but I know there was a recent case regrading scraping so sounds like that that interpretation isn't true anymore. There was an debate between lawyers saying that sharing passwords for streaming services like Netflix, HULU, Spotify, etc with family could be seen as a federal crime too in theory if companies wanted to push it under that law but no actual lawsuits as far as I know.

[capableweb]

So if I put "If you visit the website, you owe me 5 USD" in my Terms of Service, I can have them arrested? Something feels very fishy here, has to be more conditions than just "TOS violation === federal crime"

[buckminster]

The difference is in what you can convince an investigator, a prosecutor and a jury to take seriously.