In one of the even more absurd cases: According to an AP report (cited in Slashdot), Intentia International has filed criminal charges against Reuters PLC, alleging that the news service illegally obtained an earnings report that the company had not yet released, by guessing the URL at which it had been posted on Intentia’s public web site. Intentia claims that the report was “not available through normal channels,” according to AP. (Also see Financial Times and CNET News.com reports.) DES
1990s was discovery era
2000s was wild west era
2010 onwards is exploitation era