I'm not sure it matters what 3taps says or whether they are DMCA compliant. If I host pirated movies on my server and post in big bold letters, "I promise that you can redistribute them. It's totally legal and I'm responsible for any legal actions.", you're probably still getting sued by the MPAA if you redistribute the movies, and they'll probably win.
I'm not saying Craigslist has any legitimate claim over the data, merely that if they do, accessing it via an indirect means probably doesn't change anything legally.
I think the idea is that Craigslist's claim over the data is categorically different than the MPAA's over movies. The MPAA has a copyright (by proxy) over the movies. Craigslist has a Terms of Service which they assert are legally binding on anyone interacting with their servers, but (I think) they don't claim copyright over the ad.
EDIT: mikeryan, you appear to be right. Upon further reflection, I think the distinction is that PadMapper does not put up the entire post written by the user, just the fact that the post exists and is in reference to a particular location. Likewise, it's kosher for me to tell Alice that Bob posted a poem on his window so that she can go read it, even though it would not be kosher for me to make her a copy.
You automatically grant and assign to CL, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant and assign to CL, a perpetual, irrevocable, unlimited, fully paid, fully sub-licensable (through multiple tiers), worldwide license to copy, perform, display, distribute, prepare derivative works from (including, without limitation, incorporating into other works) and otherwise use any content that you post. You also expressly grant and assign to CL all rights and causes of action to prohibit and enforce against any unauthorized copying, performance, display, distribution, use or exploitation of, or creation of derivative works from, any content that you post (including but not limited to any unauthorized downloading, extraction, harvesting, collection or aggregation of content that you post).
There's an interesting subtext here. The key for CL is this line You also expressly grant and assign to CL all rights and causes of action to prohibit and enforce against any unauthorized copying, performance, display, distribution, use or exploitation of, or creation of derivative works from, any content that you post (including but not limited to any unauthorized downloading, extraction, harvesting, collection or aggregation of content that you post)
I believe there was a case with Righthaven[1] where it was found that the copyright owners can assign copyright but can't assign copyright enforcement rights. I wonder if this is the loophole that 3taps is looking to exploit.
Copyrights can't apply to material facts. And apparently, there is no "database right" in the US either, so they don't have a claim against re-aggregation of their data from public sources.
I'm not saying Craigslist has any legitimate claim over the data, merely that if they do, accessing it via an indirect means probably doesn't change anything legally.