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CFAA Pros And Cons

Decent Essays

In 1984, the CFAA began as a criminal statute to protect classified information in government computer systems. The statute, initially, was restricted to “federal interest computers,” which included only computers of governmental and financial institutions. Throughout the years, Congress progressively expanded its reach, both in terms of who may file suit and what computers are protected. In 1994, Congress added, for the first time, a private right of action to allow “[a]ny person who suffers damage or loss by reason of a violation of [the statute]” to “maintain a civil action against the violator to obtain compensatory damages and injunctive relief or other equitable relief.” Further amendments in 1996 extended the range of the CFAA from “federal interest computers” to “protected computers” used in interstate commerce. The CFAA prohibits seven …show more content…

In doing so, the Ninth Circuit renounced the “broad” approaches use principles of agency. The Brekka court overtly denied holding an employee liable under the CFAA’s “without authorization” language based on an agency theory in order to avoid interpreting the CFAA in a “surprising and novel way[] that impose[s] unexpected burdens on defendants.” Through Brekka the Ninth Circuit advanced what it called a “sensible” interpretation of the CFAA, giving separate meaning to the phrases “without authorization” and “exceeds authorized access” by focusing on the “employer’s decision to allow or to terminate an employee’s authorization to access a computer[.]” In Pulte Homes, Inc. v. Laborers’ International Union of North America, the Sixth Circuit greatly relied on the Brekka holding to give meaning to the CFAA’s “without authorization” and “exceeding authorized access” language. The Sixth Circuit¸ through Pulte Homes, found the phrases to be separate and

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