D.C. federal court rules that web scraping does not violate the CFAA and may be protected by the First Amendment

By Mark H. Francis on 2 May 2018 Posted in Big Data, In the Courts

On March 30, 2018, a D.C. federal district court denied a motion to dismiss an ACLU case filed against the government to challenge the constitutionality of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), which makes it a federal crime to access a computer in a manner that “exceeds authorized access.” Sandvig v. Sessions, No. 1:16-cv-01368, … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Rules that CFAA Imposes Criminal Penalties when Terminated Users Try To Access Systems With Borrowed Passwords

By Kimberly Chow and Paul Bond on 12 July 2016 Posted in In the Courts, Intellectual Property

It can be a violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) to “access[] a protected computer without authorization.” The CFAA clearly applies when criminals with no connection to a company try to force their way into information systems. But in a recent decision a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit found the CFAA … Continue Reading

Employers Must Define Level of Authorized Access to Pursue Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Claims

By Brian J. Willett on 1 July 2015 Posted in In the Courts, Privacy & Data Protection

In a decision that underscores the importance of carefully considering company computer-use policies and permissions, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held last month that a company could not maintain a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) claim against a former employee because the company had given the employee “unfettered … Continue Reading