ZILLOW stealing listing data from agent websites?

[Neil G.]

interesting claims; i wonder if by now these accusations have turned yet into a class action or some lawsuits?

http://www.inman.com/2015/04/10/whistleblower-alle...http://www.inman.com/2015/04/10/whistleblower-alle...

"An anonymous whistleblower is alleging that Zillow steals listing data from agent websites in order to compare it to data scraped from realtor.com and see where its own site is falling short.

In a letter to attorneys for realtor.com operator Move Inc., a presumed Zillow employee claims knowledge of illegal actions at Zillow and points Move to specific people, documents, keywords and locations to search for evidence of those actions.

The allegations support Move’s claims of misappropriation of trade secrets in a lawsuit filed a year ago against Zillow and one of its execs, Errol Samuelson, a former Move employee. Last month, Move accused Samuelson of tipping Zillow off to confidential information that allowed Zillow to acquire Trulia and therefore obtain an unfair competitive advantage.

In addition to claiming theft of agent and realtor.com listing data, the whistleblower letter (visible at the end of this story) alleges that:

• The Zillow sales team scrapes customer lists from realtor.com to target potential advertisers.
• Zillow is running secret programs called “LSS” and “LSSv2″ around listing quality.
• Samuelson was working while under a preliminary injunction, contrary to Zillow’s claims.
• Zillow exec Curt Beardsley stole multiple listing service contact, listing and other databases from Move (his former employer), keeps them in the cloud and uses them in his work at Zillow.

“This whistleblower letter raises extremely serious allegations about destruction of documents, theft and misuse of databases, violations of a court injunction and other illegal behavior. We hope that Zillow takes no steps to retaliate against the whistleblower, and that no further destruction of evidence in this case occurs,” said Move spokeswoman Lexie Puckett in an emailed statement.

“We find it especially troubling that confidential industry data and agent websites may have been illegally accessed and used by Zillow for its own purposes. That is a matter of great concern to our partners in the industry.”