J.R.McHale

A vigorous debate on the answer (and deep disagreement) in a series of posts at The Volokh Conspiracy. Short answer: likely not under present (somewhat uncertain) United States law (including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act).

1st post in the series (Stewart Baker) here.
2nd post (Stewart Baker).
3rd post (Orin Kerr).
4th post (Stewart Baker).
5th post (Orin Kerr).
6th post (Stewart Baker).
7th post (Orin Kerr).

How to Fix Copyright: a three part series of posts by William Patry at The Volokh Conspiracy on the heels of the release, earlier this month, by Oxford University Press of Patry’s new book with the same title. Patry, currently Senior Copyright Counsel at Google, served as a copyright counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives in the early 1990s and is the author of a seven volume treatise on U.S. copyright law.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3