Archive | Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

My co-blogger Stewart Baker recently argued that it is legal to hack into the computer of someone who has hacked into your computer. Stewart says his analysis is “surely” right. I think it’s obviously wrong. Here’s why. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a computer trespass statute. It prohibits accessing another person’s computer “without […]

I’ve blogged a lot on the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and specifically on whether using a computer in violation of a computer use policy or Terms of Service is a federal crime. I’ve been banging the drum urging courts to adopt a narrow interpretations of the Act for a decade, and […]

The Ninth Circuit has just handed down its long-awaited en banc decision in United States v. Nosal, the case I’ve blogged a lot about involving the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and whether violating employee restrictions on workplace computer use is a federal crime. The opinion by Chief Judge Kozinski is a […]

Senator Leahy recently proposed an amendment to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to try to address the overbreadth concerns that myself and others have raised about the current statute, and particularly DOJ’s controversial view that the statute presently allows the government to prosecute computer users for TOS violations. I wanted to blog my thoughts […]

The scope of the CFAA has been drawing some significant press attention today. Eric Felten takes on the issue in the Wall Street Journal; Judson Berger does so over at Fox News. I’ll be on NPR’s All Things Considered this weekend discussing the same issue.

I testified yesterday at a House Judiciary Committee hearing that focused in part on the need to narrow the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a drum I’ve been beating since 2003. You can watch the video of the hearing here; the CFAA parts were discussed mostly in the opening statements and in the last 15 […]

I’ve blogged a lot about 18 U.S.C. 1030, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), and how broad readings of the statute potentially criminalize a tremendous amount of entirely innocuous activity. The broad readings of the CFAA also have another important effect: They allow DOJ to try to turn any state crime that happens to […]

I’ve blogged a few times about the recent Ninth Circuit decision in United States v. Nosal, which held that “an employee accesses a computer in excess of his or her authorization [in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1030] when that access violates the employer’s access restrictions, which may include restrictions on the employee’s use of the […]