I own TouringPlans. We fully comply with Disney's terms & conditions for the reservation finder. We received a similar C&D almost three years ago. We responded. That was the end of it.
Two points in Disney's T&C's that others seemed to miss were these:
- Travel agencies are specifically allowed to use MDE for commercial purposes, including making dining and FP reservations on behalf of their clients.
- Reservations have to be made by people.
Prior to building the reservation finder, we became an IATA-certified
travel agency. That took many thousands of dollars and roughly six months. Next, we registered our new travel agency with Disney, started booking trips, and receiving commission checks from Disney.
Then we built technology that allowed us to out-task the searching. We found a company in southeast Asia that provides around-the-clock data-entry staff for exceptionally reasonable rates. Our stats team did some interesting analysis to figure out how to cover the maximum number of requests with the fewest number of keystrokes. (It helps that 90% of requests are for 6 restaurants, and that the Dining Request page has the options it does.)
I don't think the people who wrote the T&Cs expected anyone to come up with this solution. I spoke with most of the companies that received these C&Ds, and none of them attempted these steps to comply with the T&Cs. That's the key difference.
We lose a tiny amount of money on each reservation search. We think the expense is worth it, as researchers and journalists, because we're able to inform families with specific data about which restaurants are difficult to get reservations for. We also provide alternatives that are easier to get, with food just as good. Like the free Least Expensive Ticket Calculator and free touring plans, we consider this work part of our contribution to the "public good" within the Disney community.
I'll close by noting that recent court rulings have indicated that research and journalism are exempt from certain aspects of the CFAA cited in the C&D, on First Amendment grounds. That's new since these C&Ds went out. We supported the
ACLU's challenge to the CFAA in part because of the C&D we received.
Len