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Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Finding the Line in the Sand

The scope of the CFAA is the subject of an emerging split among federal courts of appeals as highlighted by a recent opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which rejected the claim that its decision would make criminals out of millions of employees who might utilize their work computers for personal use.

31 minute read July 29, 2011 at 10:26 AM
By
Elkan Abramowitz and Barry A. Bohrer
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Finding the Line in the Sand

Recently described as the “ever expanding statute that has swallowed the Internet,” (see, Orin S. Kerr, “Congress Considers Increasing Penalties, Adding Minimum Sentences to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,” The Volokh Conspiracy Blog (May 24, 2011)), the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. '1030, was promulgated in 1984 in order to strengthen the government's ability to prosecute computer crimes involving national security secrets, computers belonging to the federal government, and personal financial information.

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