Whether or not you can be sued for botting actually depends on what kind of bot you use.
ANY client that is specifically designed to load Runescape to your computer's RAM that has not been legally approved by Jagex = a breach of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or, the DMCA.
Swiftkit is an excellent example of this. A lot of you may be thinking, "Wait, Swiftkit loads RS to RAM, why is it allowed?" Well, to begin, when Swiftkit first came out it was actually considered a bannable offense to use it to play Runescape. There were multiple bans when it was first released, and Jagex actually contacted the developers of Swiftkit and planned to meet with them (with lawyers of course) in order to basically threaten to sue them unless they signed a written contract with Jagex to allow for the client to continue to be available.
This means that ANY bot client you use that loads RS to RAM is considered Copyright Infringement, and leaves the
possibility of being sued by Jagex. This applies for Powerbot, Epicbot, Rarebot, Runedream, Tribot, and basically any bot coded specifically to load RS into its own client.
Essentially, this leaves only 3 bots that I can think of that do not violate this law: Robotz In Disguise, Simba, and Scar
Here's why:
RiD does not offer a client with which to bot RS through. The bot simply uses the Robot class in Java to control the mouse and keyboard. It in no way interacts with game code. Here is RiD's official statement on the matter in the site's FAQ:
RiD said:
You cannot be sued for using RiD, provided you aren't running a customised version of RuneScape client software.
Regarding this issue, the TOS of RuneScape states, "You must not use a modified/customised version of the client software" and "such activity may constitute civil wrongs and/or criminal offences, and Jagex reserves the right to take such action as appropriate in the circumstances should it become aware that such offences are being committed."
Many bots do this (for minimization), and this is what leaves their users open to being sued. However RiD does not utilize a customised version of client software, which is why using RiD is not a civil or criminal offense.
While this does mean that you cannot use the computer while botting normally, it is still possible to legally minimize the bot using free software such as Virtualbox to create Virtual Machines with which to run your bots in. The same concept and fix applies for Scar as far as breaking copyright and minimizing. Simba offers S.M.A.R.T botting client, which technically is a breach of the DMCA, as it is specifically designed to load RS into RAM, HOWEVER, because S.M.A.R.T is simply using the Simba platform to create this client, the worst that would happen is Benland, the creator of S.M.A.R.T, could be sued. Even if they did that, it'd still be very easy and possible for Simba users to run their bots and minimize them using virtual machine. Because of this it would be nearly pointless for Jagex to go after Ben specifically.
As I said earlier "Possibilty" is the key word. Yes, it is possible to be sued using customized clients for RS not approved by Jagex, HOWEVER, the likelihood is exponentially small. Jagex is smart enough to know that spending thousands and thousands of dollars on lawyer fees to sue a single person, whom is most likely a minor (under 18), for botting with such clients, especially when that person is likely not to have much money to give Jagex after Jagex wins the lawsuit. I wouldn't be surprised if Jagex went after an extremely rich IRL player, as maybe then they could turn a profit over the whole thing, but like I said, possible, but very very unlikely
