Two Year Statute of Limitations for Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Accrued When Plaintiff “Suspected” Wrongdoing

SEE NEW POST UPDATING THIS CASE:  Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Limitations Accrued With Awareness of Unauthorized Access–Not Identity of Perpetrator There have not been many Computer Fraud and Abuse Act cases where the statute of limitations has been a key issue in the case so there are not many cases that have analyzed the issue. …

Court Finds Insider Redirecting Domain Traffic Not “Interruption of Service” Under Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

In a civil case where a former director, after being removed as director, logged into the company’s Internet domain names and redirected traffic away from the company resulting in lost revenue and business opportunities, the court determined that such redirection of traffic away from the company was not an “interruption of service” under the Computer …

Current Employee May Have Violated Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by Downloading for Secret New Employer

A federal district court in Mississippi refused to dismiss the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claims against an individual who, during the term of his employment downloaded confidential information for a new employer. While employed by the plaintiff, the defendant had secretly negotiated an employment agreement with a new company but, before announcing his resignation …

More Tightening of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — Holding it to Rule 9(b) Heightened Pleading Standard

In a change of course for cases applying the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a California District Court has made it more difficult for plaintiffs to plead a case for violation of the CFAA by subjecting it to the heightened pleading requirement of Rule 9 which requires the plaintiff to allege the who, what, when, …

Fifth Circuit Finds Company Not Liable for Alleged Violations of CFAA and ECPA by Its Regional Manager

Do alleged violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Stored Communications Act, and Wiretap Act committed by a company’s Regional Manager make the company liable? No, as long as the Regional Manager was not acting on behalf of the company. On October 19, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit …

Ninth Circuit Upholds $9.5 Million Facebook Privacy Settlement

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the $9.5 million settlement of a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit that included, among other things, claims for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, was based on assertions by Facebook users that, through its Beacon Program, Facebook violated their privacy by sharing on …

4 Takeaways From A Really Easy Computer Fraud And Abuse Act Case

4 Practical Takeaways: A “protected computer” is any computer connected to the Internet. The $5,000 loss requirement can be aggregated and need not be met by only one single act. Lost revenue is a “loss” if it was caused by an interruption of service because the computers failed. Observation of data alone constitutes “obtaining information”. …

Break Into A Home, Violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?

How’s that for a crazy sounding question? Could breaking into a home violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act? I know you’re wondering just how I come up with these crazy things, right? From the news, of course! I read a really interesting article by David Goldman on CNNMoney entitled Your Jetsons Home is Almost …

Share your password, do the time – lessons under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

The Lesson: DO NOT SHARE YOUR COMPUTER PASSWORDS! The Student: Jane Smith, a County Clerk of Court with a distinguished career of service for 39 years. The Mistake: Sharing her computer password with an IT contractor who was working on the Clerk’s office computers with the Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Office, and Madison County Jail to …

How Do You Violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act? SunPower Lawsuit Shows How!

A new lawsuit has been filed by SunPower against 5 former employees and it’s rival SolarCity alleging violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This is a good one to look at if you want to see how to violate the CFAA with style — especially if you are an soon-to-be-departing employee and you …