That's an uncharitable reading. Citing the "the spirit of the law" is
not automatically ignoring the text in order to do whatever you want. It can be "how do I apply this archaic text about oxen (or whatever) to current events". Maybe the meaning is that stealing stuff in general is frowned upon, not just oxen. Or should we focus on how a Chevrolet Corvette is definitely not an ox?
Interpreting constitutions and very old laws requires a different frame than modern laws that merely say something different than you'd like them to.
Why does the First Amendment say "freedom of speech, or of the press" and make no mention of radio or TV or the internet? Because, of course, it was enacted in 1791. The drafters can't be expected to have listed things that didn't exist yet and it's obvious to everyone that it's meant to apply to this category of things even if we're now using fiber optics and satellites instead of dead trees.
But if you're interpreting a law from 20 years ago instead of 200 and nothing relevant has changed that the drafters couldn't have predicted when it was enacted, the fact that someone is doing what you said instead of what you meant is entirely down to you being bad at saying what you mean and that ought to be on you rather than on them.