Holding Passwords Hostage – International Extortion Foiled
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Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Can You Go to Jail for Lying on Facebook?
During last week’s oral argument before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on the case of U.S. v. Nosal, 642 F.3d 781 (9th Cir. 2011), reh’g en banc granted (Oct. 27, 2011), members of the Court, including most notably Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, spent a substantial amount of time questioning the government lawyer about whether… Read More
U.S. v. Nosal Re-Argued Before the 9th Circuit
On December 15, 2011, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument en banc in U.S. v. Nosal, 642 F.3d 781 (9th Cir. 2011), reh’g en banc granted (Oct. 27, 2011). As expected, the oral argument focused on the meaning of unauthorized access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The issue is whether an… Read More
Suing Employees for Computer Fraud Gets Easier
Four separate circuit court rulings this year enhanced the ability of businesses to use Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. To print or view this article as a pdf go to: link By Nick Akerman Four recent decisions handed down by four different federal courts of appeals during the past year have, in combination, greatly… Read More
9th Circuit Grants Rehearing En Banc on Nosal
On October 27, 2011, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that U.S. v. Nosal be reheard en banc by all of the Appeals Court judges and that the “three-judge panel opinion [in U.S. v. Nosal, 642 F.3d 781 (9th Cir. 2011)] shall not be cited as precedent by or to any court of the… Read More
Unauthorized Access of President Obama’s Student Loan Data Ends in Computer Fraud Conviction
The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the criminal conviction of Sandra Teague for accessing President Obama’s data in the National Student Loan Data System during her employment at a government contractor for the Department of Education. U.S. v, Teague, 646 F.3d 1119 (8th Cir. 2011). She was indicted and convicted by a jury for… Read More
Can a Labor Union Be Sued Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for Spamming an Employer’s Voice and Email Systems?
The answer is yes. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last week reversed a district court and reinstated a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) claim brought by an employer against a labor union for “bombarding” the computer systems of its sales and executive offices with emails and voicemails making it impossible for the company… Read More
9th Circuit Clarifies Brekka: Employees Can Be Criminally Prosecuted for Violating Their Employer’s Computer Policies
In California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana, Arizona, Nevada and Idaho – states covered by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals — the answer as of yesterday is an emphatic “YES.” In U.S. v. Nosal, 2011 WL 1585600 (9th Cir. April 28, 2011) the court clarified its decision in LVRC Holdings LLC v. Brekka, 581 F.3d… Read More
Sex Crimes, Cell Phones and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
If anyone deserves a longer sentence, it is a sex offender who victimizes minors. But no one would ever have anticipated that a sex offender would receive extra prison time for using a basic cell phone in the furtherance of his crime. Last week the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the enhanced sentence of… Read More
The 11th Circuit Rejects Brekka and Provides Guidance on Pursuing Ex-Employees Who Steal from Company Computers
This week the 11th Circuit upheld the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) conviction and one -year prison sentence of a former Social Security Administration (“SSA”) employee who accessed the agency’s computer for non-business reasons. U.S. v. Rodriguez, 2010 WL 5253231 (11th Cir. Dec. 27, 2010). This case is significant for two reasons. First, the… Read More