Dismissal of CFAA Claim for Lack of Jurisdiction
The National Law Journal July 5, 2010 An ALM publication Daily updates at NLJ.COM Under Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, plaintiff must properly specify a $5,000 loss or case will be tossed. BY NICK AKERMAN The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is the omnibus federal computer crime statute outlawing theft and destruction of data, [more...]
No New i-Phone 4 for Convicted CFAA Felon Randal Craig
One person you will not see waiting in line to buy the new i-Phone 4 at the Apple Store is Randall Craig who pleaded guilty to violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. (“CFAA”). Craig, a subcontractor at the Marine Corps Reserve Center, communicated by email with an undercover FBI agent posing as a [more...]
Investigating Ways to Make Website More Secure Constitutes Loss Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
A federal court in Ohio last week held that the cost of investigating ways to make a website more secure after an authorized access into the website in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) constitutes “loss” to meet the $5,000 jurisdictional amount for loss under the CFAA. Jedson Engineering, Inc. v. Spirit [more...]
Another District Court Dismisses a CFAA Claim for Failure to Allege Jurisdictional Loss
ailure to allege proper “loss” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) continues to bedevil plaintiffs filing CFAA civil actions. The latest case decided this week, Devine v. Kapasi, 2010 WL 2293461 *4 (N.D. Ill. June 7, 2010), dismissed a CFAA claim on the ground that it did not allege that the Defendants’ actions “”caused … loss to 1 or more persons during any 1-year period … aggregating at least $5,000 in value.” § 1030(c)(4)(A)(i)(I).
Courts Adopt Tort Standard to Define CFAA “Loss”
The jurisdictional $5,000 “loss” requirement continues to be one of the most hotly contested issues arising out of civil actions filed under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”).
Narrow Interpretation of CFAA’s Jurisdictional “Loss” Requirement
A district court in Illinois last week granted summary judgment to a defendant on a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) claim by narrowly interpreting the jurisdictional “loss” prerequisite under the CFAA to require a showing that the computer was “impaired” or “suffered an interruption of service.” Von Holdt v. A-1 Tool Corp., 2010 WL [more...]
How Do You Sue an Unknown Hacker?
The question was answered this week by a federal district court in Connecticut in the case of GWA, LLC v. Cox Communications, Inc. and John Doe, 2010 WL 1957864 (D.Conn. May 17, 2010). When the company computer is hacked, the only evidence that is usually available on the hacked computer to identify the hacker is [more...]
Joint Databases – Is Your Competitively Sensitive Data Protected?
A recent federal district court decision refusing to grant summary judgment to a defendant in a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) case highlights the importance of clearly delineating one’s rights in accessing a database that contains data owned by more than one party. In Snap-On Business Solutions Inc. v. O’Neil & Associates, Inc. 2010 [more...]
Tennessee Court: The CFAA Is Not Unconstitutionally Vague
While she is no longer a public official, former Governor Sarah Palin has unwittingly contributed to a Tennessee federal district court upholding the constitutionality of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”). The case in question is a criminal prosecution against David Kernell, the college student charged with violations of the CFAA for accessing [more...]
Nebraska Court: The CFAA Is Not Unconstitutionally Vague
How do semi-nude photos, suicide and a possible decision by the US Supreme Court relate to a Nebraska decision handed down last month on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”)? Without referencing the Lori Drew case, a federal district court in Nebraska held that the CFAA “is not void for vagueness and provides sufficient [more...]
