That the government is likely to spin or outright create laws to protect its interests is a different thing to "this activity is possibly illegal".

I was given related advice while a cofounder of a startup venture. Forget whether you are legally in the right. If a powerful competitor is threatened they can sue on a vaguely credible premise they can destroy either your company or years of your life regardless of whether their superior lawyers foist it past the judge.

The letter of the law just doesn't matter all that much if there is a power imbalance.