Data Heist: Cotality vs Hubexo in Aussie Court

0:00It's April 17, this is Sydney News Today, driven by AI. Two big players in Australia's property data game, Cotality and Hubexo, are duking it out in federal court over stolen construction leads. They basically run a duopoly-feeding info to everyone from builders to banks in a $600 billion sector. Hubexo claims Cotality ripped off his lead manager's service to boost their own Cordell Connect product. Back in 2016, Cotality staff set up a war room to copy Hubexo's data using third-party accounts and even bots with human-like delays. To dodge detection, the lawsuit hit in 2021, accusing them of copyright breach and contract violations, but it's only now in court. Email shown this week revealed execs coordinating like kid-sharing Netflix logins, hiding identities, and warning about lies after getting caught. Hubexo says this cost them customers in their tight duopoly, while Cotality calls the loss claims, just vibes, by that old movie line.

1:01Cotality fights back, saying much of the data was public anyway. They barely used what they grabbed, and Hubexo can't prove real financial hits, or gains on their side. Lawyers mocked the common sense argument that loss clients had nowhere else to go. This battle could reshape copyright rules for databases across industries, with more hearings next week deciding if sneaky data grabs fly or flop.