Investing.com -- Shares of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG) climbed 3% following the news that a federal court overturned a jury verdict that had previously held the company liable for violating a computer fraud law in a case against Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) DAC.
The court decision reversed the verdict which had found Booking.com guilty of knowingly defrauding Ryanair by using online travel agents to scrape flight information from Ryanair's website, according to a report from Bloomberg Law on Thursday.
Judge William C. Bryson of the US District Court for the District of Delaware ruled that Ryanair failed to prove it suffered losses of $5,000 or more due to Booking.com's actions, a necessary component for a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) violation. The costs Ryanair cited, including those for account verification, customer service salaries, and hosting for an anti-scraping program, were not convincingly linked to Booking.com's scraping activities.
The market's positive response to the court's decision reflects relief that Booking Holdings will not be burdened with damages or further legal complications from this case. It also removes a cloud of legal uncertainty that had been hanging over the company's stock.
Investors in Booking Holdings will likely continue to monitor the company's legal developments and their potential impact on its business operations and financial performance.
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