If a digital technology fails to respect behavioral preferences embedded in complementary technology, is the producer of the digital technology legally liable for any resulting harm? Does the idea of a well-behaved computer program mean something in the law? Is there a legally binding etiquette for code?
Is the answer “yes,” given the court’s reasoning in eBay v. Bidder’s Edge (operator of robot liable for “trespass to chattels” when the robot failed to observe a robots.txt file on the eBay server)? Or is the answer “no,” given the recent opinion in Agfa Monotype Corp v. Adobe Systems (Adobe did not commit a DMCA violation when Adobe Acrobat 5.0 disregarded preferences of font producer Agfa located in embedding bits that accompanied TrueType fonts)? Discuss.