Yeah, we know you are not a lawyer and neither am I, but writing I ANAL, doesn't really exempt you from the law...im sure it doesn't take a lawyer to realize this.
see 3taps vs Craigslist and the CFAA ruling. Public data is fine, its just when you break their captcha and bypass their IP ban, it becomes an issue. Which you've pretty much admitted in your reddit thread.
You can try defending yourself in court against the world's best legal team. Any capitulation now is better than losing your entire life savings over in the subsequent legal defense fees alone.
edit: whats the matter? run out of alt-nicks? LMAO. dude you make it way too obvious. inactive accounts suddenly converging on this particular thread using the same argument over and over to censor my comments...not even bothering to change writing styles...