Orin Kerr writes: The federal computer crime statutes punish unauthorized access to a computer. As regular readers know, courts are hopelessly divided on what this language means, and in particular what makes an access to a computer authorized versus unauthorized. In Cheng v. Romo, 2012 WL 6021369 (D. Mass. Nov. 28 2012), Judge Casper authored an…
Category: Federal
Dutch government seeks to let law enforcement hack foreign computers
Lucian Constantin reports: The Dutch government wants to give law enforcement authorities the power to hack into computers, including those located in other countries, for the purpose of discovering and gathering evidence during cybercrime investigations. In a letter that was sent to the lower house of the Dutch parliament on Monday, the Dutch Minister of Security and…
House Passes Bill to Curb Tax Return Identity Theft
Michael Cohn reports: The House has approved legislation to increase the criminal penalties against identity thieves who steal taxpayer information to file fraudulent returns. The Stopping Tax Offenders and Prosecuting Identity Theft Act, H.R. 4362, was introduced in April by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas. The bill…
Recent Developments — Both in the Courts and in Congress — on the Scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Orin Kerr writes: 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,…
If at first you don’t succeed: Senator Leahy offers breach notification amendments to cybersecurity bill
Brendan Sasso reports: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is pushing for an amendment to a cybersecurity bill that would make it a crime for a company to hide a data breach from its customers. Under the legislation, anyone who purposefully conceals a data breach that causes financial damage could face up to five years in prison….
Latest Data Breach Notification Bill Won’t Go Far
Eduard Goodman of Identity Theft 911 dissects the data breach notification bill introduced last month by Rep. Toomey and finds it seriously wanting: The latest bill to address the problem of data breaches is just one of an increasingly long line of proposed federal breach notice regulations with little to no chance of becoming law…