If there were laws regulating how data is provided, I think that as a company, I'd simply stop providing data entirely. It definitely wouldn't be free.
APIs are nice, but legal hassles aren't worth dealing with.
If you're a company, you'll do what makes you money, regardless of how you feel about regulations that affect you.
Legal hassles are totally worth dealing with if the cost of managing them doesn't exceed your profit. If you're the right company, legal red tape can be a very effective barrier to entry.
It's very unlikely that any free API is going to make you enough money to deal with any legal hassles. Some companies will charge API clients through the nose. Others will cut off access. Either way, it's not going to lead to a more free ecosystem.
APIs are nice, but legal hassles aren't worth dealing with.