Category Archives: Cases
High Court May Rule on Computer Law Question
At issue is whether the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act applies to data theft by employees; the circuits are split. BY Nick Akerman On July 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit became the first circuit to adopt the Ninth Circuit’s holding in U.S. v. Nosal, 676 F.3d 854 (9th Cir. 2012), that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act does not apply to employees who steal data from the company computers. WEC Carolina Energy Solutions LLC v. Miller, 2012 WL 3039213 (4th Cir. July 26, 2012). This case places the Fourth and Ninth circuits in direct conflict … [ Continue reading ]
Computer Policies and the 9th Circuit
Last month I posted my article from the National Law Journal, entitled, “Time to Review Computer Policies,” discussing three recent cases, including LVRC Holdings LLC v. Brekka, 81 F.3d 1127, 1131 (9th Cir. 2009). I cited Brekka for the proposition that it is important to delineate the scope of an employee’s permissible access to the company computers. Since then, two new district court decisions from California and Washington have called into question whether such a strategy will work in the 9th Circuit. Both decisions narrow the meaning of exceeding authorized access under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) … [ Continue reading ]
Default judgment entered for Criagslist on the CFAA
Craigslist, Inc. v. Naturemarket, Inc., 2010 WL 807446, *12 (N.D. Ca., March 5, 2010) entered a default judgment in favor of Craigslist for, among other things, a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The court held that the defendants’ access to the Craigslist Web site was unauthorized under the CFAA because the defendants violated the Web site’s Terms of Use (“TOU”). Specifically, the Craigslist TOU “expressly prohibits users from engaging in repeated postings of similar content, posting ads on behalf of others, gaining unauthorized access to Plaintiff’s computer systems, and using automated posting devices or computer programs that … [ Continue reading ]
How To Prove “Loss” for Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
To bring a civil action based on the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) a plaintiff must show that the alleged violation “caused . . . loss . . . aggregating at least $5,000 in value.” 18 U.S. C. Section 1030(c)(4)(A)(i). “Loss” is defined by the CFAA as “any reasonable cost to any victim, including the cost of responding to an offense, conducting a damage assessment, and restoring the data, program, system , or information to its condition prior to the offense, and any revenue lost, cost incurred, or other consequential damages incurred because of interruption of service.” 18 … [ Continue reading ]
