The case did establish "principle[s]" that are "persuasive" for courts deciding subsequent cases. Put it this way: Say someone gets indicted for violating the CFAA by scraping a public site. You bet their attorneys will cite hiQ v. LinkedIn as persuasive precedent for dismissing the indictment. And the court, "when deciding" that case, absolutely will consider the Ninth Circuit's statement that it's "likely" that accessing "publicly available data will not constitute access without authorization under the CFAA."
Here's another point: When the Ninth Circuit decides a case, it chooses whether the decision is "published" or "unpublished." The Ninth Circuit rules expressly say that "unpublished" decisions are not precedent.
> Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3(a): "Not Precedent. Unpublished dispositions and orders of this Court are not precedent...."
Here, the Ninth Circuit chose to issue hiQ v. LinkedIn as a published case. If the Ninth Circuit wanted the case not to be precedent, it would not have done so, and easily could have made it "unpublished."
The case did establish "principle[s]" that are "persuasive" for courts deciding subsequent cases. Put it this way: Say someone gets indicted for violating the CFAA by scraping a public site. You bet their attorneys will cite hiQ v. LinkedIn as persuasive precedent for dismissing the indictment. And the court, "when deciding" that case, absolutely will consider the Ninth Circuit's statement that it's "likely" that accessing "publicly available data will not constitute access without authorization under the CFAA."
Here's another point: When the Ninth Circuit decides a case, it chooses whether the decision is "published" or "unpublished." The Ninth Circuit rules expressly say that "unpublished" decisions are not precedent.
> Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3(a): "Not Precedent. Unpublished dispositions and orders of this Court are not precedent...."
Here, the Ninth Circuit chose to issue hiQ v. LinkedIn as a published case. If the Ninth Circuit wanted the case not to be precedent, it would not have done so, and easily could have made it "unpublished."