Jamie Williams writes: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion rejecting the government’s attempt to hold an employee criminally liable under the federal hacking statute—the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”)—for violating his employer-imposed computer use restrictions. The decision is important because it ensures that employers and website owners don’t have the power…
Category: Federal
House committee OKs bill to counter stolen credit card forums
Cory Bennett reports: The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at cracking down on the cyber thieves who profit from stolen credit card information. The Cybercrime Anti-Resale Deterrent and Extraterritoriality Revision (CARDER) Act would give law enforcement more tools to go after foreign criminals who sell credit card data stolen from Americans…
Confusion Abounds in Supreme Court Arguments in Mussachio
Molly Willms reports on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that touches on “exceeding authorized access” under CFAA: The confusion that plagued a jury in a computer hacking trial has followed the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where hypotheticals and technical questions abounded during oral argument Monday. Michael Musacchio was convicted in…
The CFAA reaches the Supreme Court, sort of
Orin Kerr writes: Next week, the Supreme Court will hear its first case involving the controversial federal computer crime law, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), found at 18 U.S.C. 1030. The case, Musacchio v. United States, has relatively little do with the CFAA. But it does end up touching on one of the most…
FTC v. LabMD ruling issued: FTC loses data security enforcement case (Update2)
In a data security enforcement action that some have characterized as a modern version of David vs. Goliath, David won today, and the FTC lost. It was an enforcement action that the FTC never should have commenced, as I’ve argued repeatedly, and today’s loss may actually make future enforcement actions more difficult for them as the standard for demonstrating…
Challenging FTC Regulation of Cyber-security After FTC v. Wyndham
Gerald J. Ferguson and of Alan L. Friel of Baker & Hostetler write: The Third Circuit interlocutory decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Wyndham Worldwide Corporation was widely reported as a big win for the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). But on closer examination, it was a split decision in which Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (“Wyndham”) can claim an…