Computer Fraud

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2016 TS YIR Cover

The 2016 Year in Review is a compilation of our significant blog posts from throughout last year and is categorized by specific topics such as: Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Non-Compete & Restrictive Covenants, Legislation, International, and Social Media and Privacy. As demonstrated by our specific blog entries, including our Top Developments/Headlines, Trade Secrets Webinar Series – …
Continue Reading Seyfarth Shaw is pleased to announce the publication of the Trading Secrets 2016 Year in Review!

shutterstock_144630422Although stealing bases, and even signs, in baseball may be part of the game, stealing another team’s trade secrets can land you in federal prison, as one executive recently learned the hard way.

As we previously reported, the FBI has been investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking into the Houston Astros’ internal computer network and stealing proprietary information,…
Continue Reading When Stealing in Baseball Can Land You in Jail: Computer Fraud Sentencing Announced in MLB Case

shutterstock_236620168On July 12, 2016, the Ninth Circuit filed its published opinion in Facebook, Inc. v. Power Ventures, Inc., et al., Case No. 13-17154 (“Power Ventures”).  Power Ventures is the latest in a series of decisions from the Ninth Circuit relating to the type of activities potentially giving rise to liability under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act…
Continue Reading Facebook, Inc. v. Power Ventures, Inc.: Shotgun-Toting Borrowers of Jewelry From Bank Safe Deposit Boxes and the CFAA. Wait. What?

shutterstock_261389492Ever since Iqbal and Twombly, it has become imperative that a complaint filed in federal court contains “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’”  Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 554, 570 (2007)).  The Eastern District of Michigan…
Continue Reading Recent Decision Highlights Important Pleading Requirements for Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Claims

shutterstock_131284286In a recent Computer Fraud and Abuse Act case, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s conclusion that the plaintiff had produced no evidence refuting the defendant’s contention that it honestly believed it was engaging in lawful business practices rather than intentionally deceiving or defrauding the plaintiff.  Accordingly, entry of judgment for the defendant was appropriate.  Fidlar …
Continue Reading Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Not Violated Unless Plaintiff Shows Defendant Had Intent To Defraud

WebinarOn Friday, January 29, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. Central, Seyfarth attorneys Michael Wexler, Robert Milligan and Joshua Salinas will present the first installment of the 2016 Trade Secrets Webinar series. The presenters will review noteworthy cases and other legal developments from across the nation this past year in the areas of trade secrets and data theft, non-competes and other restrictive…
Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar: 2015 National Year in Review: What You Need to Know About the Recent Cases/Developments in Trade Secrets, Non-Compete and Computer Fraud Law

shutterstock_276783140We are pleased to announce the webinar “Social Media Privacy Legislation Update” is now available as a podcast and webinar recording.

In Seyfarth’s eighth installment in its series of Trade Secrets Webinars, Seyfarth social media attorneys discussed their recently released Social Media Privacy Legislation Desktop Reference and addressed the relationship between trade secrets, social media, and privacy legislation.

As…
Continue Reading Webinar Recap! Social Media Privacy Legislation Update

shutterstock_299582249On October 20, 2015, a Ninth Circuit panel consisting of Chief Judge Sidney Thomas and Judges M. Margaret McKeown and Stephen Reinhardt heard oral argument from the U.S. Department of Justice and counsel for David Nosal on Nosal’s criminal conviction arising under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).   In 2013, Nosal was found to have violated the CFAA by…
Continue Reading Nosal Update: Ninth Circuit Hears Oral Arguments on Password Sharing and Scope of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

shutterstock_242602567While employee Lehman was employed by Experian and allegedly subject to various employment covenants, he incorporated Thorium, a competitor.  After Experian laid him off, he operated Thorium.  Experian sued Lehman and Thorium in a Michigan federal court, accusing them of wrongdoing including violations of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.  Holding that the CFAA is intended to criminalize hacking…
Continue Reading Michigan Federal Court Rejects As Dicta Sixth Circuit’s Broad Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Interpretation

California -- brick wallIn United States v. Nosal, 676 F.3d 854 (9th Cir. 2012) (en banc), the court held that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030, prohibits unlawful access to a computer but not unauthorized use of computerized information.  Although that holding represents a minority position, two recent opinions — one in a Ninth Circuit criminal…
Continue Reading California Federal Courts Reiterate: Unless Computer Hacked, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Permits Misuse Of Electronic Information