In light of Aaron Swartz‘s tragic suicide, there has been a lot of discussion–some productive, some not–about reforming the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (the “CFAA“). I support some of the reform proposals, but they don’t go far enough. Initially, the CFAA banned hacking, but over the years, it has morphed into a general restriction against online trespass to chattels. In this post, I’ll explain why–and how–the concept of online trespass to chattels should be eliminated from the CFAA and analogous state law doctrines. …read more Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
A draft bill to exclude terms of service violations from the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is to be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The proposed amendment to the anti-hacking law comes in the wake of the suicide on Friday by Internet activist and computer prodigy Aaron Swartz, who was charged with wire fraud, computer fraud and other crimes for allegedly accessing and downloading millions of documents from the JSTOR online database through the network of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Swartz allegedly intended to distribute a significant proportion of JSTOR’s archive through file-sharing sites. If convicted, he could have faced up to 35 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.
The government was able to bring disproportionate charges against Swartz because of the broad scope of CFAA and the wire fraud statute, wrote Representative Zoe Lofgren in a post on Tuesday on the Reddit news-sharing site in which Swartz played a key role. “It looks like the government used the vague wording of those laws to claim that violating an online service’s user agreement or terms of service is a violation of the CFAA and the wire fraud statute,” she said.
The suicide of Internet activist and pioneer Aaron Swartz has focused attention on what some activists say is the overzealous use of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act anti-hacking statute.
Swartz, 26, hanged himself last Friday, apparently over concerns stemming for the prospect of spending up to 35 years in prison on hacking-related charges.
Federal prosecutors had indicted Swartz on 13 counts of felony hacking and wire fraud related to the alleged theft of millions of documents from JSTOR, an online library of literary journals and scholarly documents sold by subscription to universities and other institutions.
Several charges against Swartz were tied to alleged CFAA violations.
Image: Demand Progress