Computer Fraud

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Throughout 2012, Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s dedicated Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes Practice Group hosted a series of CLE webinars that addressed significant issues facing clients today in this important and ever changing area of law. The series consisted of eight webinars:

1) Employee Privacy, Social Networking at Work, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Standoff;
2) Employee Theft…
Continue Reading 2012 Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud, and Non-Competes Webinar Series – Year in Review

By Michael Baniak

A Virginia federal court district court recently issued a significant decision awarding lost profits to an aggrieved employer for breach of fiduciary duty by a former employee. The Court found that the ex-employee was not able to deduct his services for the company as an expense against the damages award. Further, the Court found that the employer’s…
Continue Reading Virginia Federal Court Finds For Employer on Fidicuary Duty Claim Against Former Employee

A recent Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) case from the Southern District of Mississippi further muddies the water with respect to the circuit split regarding the application of the law against former employees who violate computer usage policies or violate their duties of loyalty to their employers by stealing company data from company computer systems.

Unified Brands, Inc. (“Unified”),…
Continue Reading Mississippi Federal District Court Allows Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Claim To Proceed Against Former Employee

On Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. pacific/12:00 p.m. central, Jim McNairy, Jessica Mendelson and Joshua Salinas will present the “2012 California Year in Review,” the final segment in this year’s Trade Secret Webinar Series. 

You can register for this complimentary webinar here.

In Seyfarth’s final installment of its 2012 Trade Secret Webinar series, Seyfarth attorneys will review…
Continue Reading 2012 California Year in Review Webinar: What You Need to Know About the Recent Developments in Trade Secret, Non-Compete, and Computer Fraud Law

According to a recent Arizona federal court decision, (a) an employee who had the right to access his employer’s confidential emails did not violate the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030, by downloading 300 such documents to his personal computer and sharing them with a recently terminated employee; (b) an employer may pursue either…
Continue Reading Arizona Federal Court Issues Significant Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Trade Secret Preemption Decision

By Misty Blair

You may recall that hopes were high this summer that the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 would become law, as various advocacy groups attempted to reach compromises on the most controversial portions of the bill, resulting in it being revised to address those groups’ concerns. Then, on August 2nd, the Senate voted 52-46 (largely along party lines) against…
Continue Reading Cybersecurity Act of 2012 Dies Again in the Senate

By Marcus Mintz

Corporate espionage in the sports industry? The owners of the Indoor Football League’s Omaha Beef recently asserted serious allegations against rival team, the Allen Wranglers, the League commissioner, and the Beef’s former coach, now coaching for the Wranglers.

In Gridiron Management Group LLC v. Allen Wranglers, No. 8:12-cv-3128, 2012 WL 5187839 (D. Neb. Oct. 18, 2012), …
Continue Reading Plaintiffs Retain Home Field Advantage in Email Hacking Action But Nebraska Federal Court Dismisses Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Claim

By Robert Milligan and Joshua Salinas

As anticipated, the issue regarding the application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) against employees who violate their employer’s computer use policies and steal valuable company data may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, WEC Carolina Energy Solutions LLC (“WEC”) filed a petition for writ of certiorari before the…
Continue Reading Employer Petitions U.S. Supreme Court to Resolve Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Circuit Split

On October 12, 2012, Zynga, a major provider of social game services based in San Francisco, filed suit against its former general manager of its highly successful CityVille game, Alan Patmore. Zynga alleges that Patmore, after allegedly refusing to acknowledge his confidentiality obligations, wandered out of the offices of Zynga with 760 computer files, which he uploaded to his personal…
Continue Reading Zynga Sues Former Employee For Trade Secret Theft While Defending Its Acquisition Of Other Alleged Proprietary Information

On October 10, 2012, the Supreme Court of South Carolina found in Jennings v. Jennings, et al., that a defendant who allegedly hacked into a plaintiff’s personal e-mail account to retrieve messages that were already read by the plaintiff was not liable under the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 2701.

The Defendant allegedly hacked into plaintiff’s Yahoo!
Continue Reading Hacking Into Personal E-Mail Account Not a Violation of the Stored Communications Act According to South Carolina Supreme Court