I am with you in that this rhetoric is getting exhausting.

In this particular case though I don't think "evil” is a moral claim, more shorthand for cost externalizing behavior. Hammering expensive dynamic endpoints with millions of unique requests isn’t neutral automation, it's degrading a shared public resource. Call it evil, antisocial, or extractive, the outcome is the same.

OK. How about shitty and selfish then?

What other word would you use? I find "evil" quite an apt description.

You can be ignorantly evil.

Absolutely evil.

Lawful Evil

When they routinely do things like take down public libraries yes I consider it evil too.

Sounds like you have zero empathy for the real costs AI is driving and feelings that this creates for website owners. How about you pony up and pay for your scraping?