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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

Last month we blogged about a district court for the Northern District of California that distinguished the Ninth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Nosal decision and allowed an employer to bring a counterclaim under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) against a former employee for alleged violations of a verbal computer access restriction. (Weingand v. Harland Financial Solutions,…
Continue Reading Update: California Federal District Court Reaffirms that Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Claims are Available for Violations of Employers’ “Access Restrictions” Despite Ninth Circuit’s Nosal Decision

In a shocking scandal, a federal court clerk has been accused of leaking confidential files, including information disclosing details of contemplated law enforcement raids on Armenian street gangs.

As reported by the ABA, Nune Gevorkyan (“Gevorkyan”), a district court criminal intake clerk, and her husband, Oganes Koshkaryan (“Koshkaryan”) were arrested and charged with conspiring to obstruct justice, a violation…
Continue Reading Federal Court Clerk Arrested For Allegedly Sharing Confidential Information With Gangs

By Robert Milligan and Jeffrey Oh

As Internet traffic has exploded in the last decade, Internet Service Providers (ISP) – the companies who build and profit from providing the requisite infrastructure – have had to strategically maintain their networks to satisfy demand under increasingly tightening technological constraints. One way ISPs do this is by employing a practice called “throttling,” or limiting…

Continue Reading New York Federal District Court Strikes Down Application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to ISP Throttling Case

By Robert Milligan and Jeffrey Oh

For the past three years, social media platform Facebook has pursued legal action against social media aggregator Power Ventures (“Power”) over what it has viewed as a blatant violation of state and federal law. Filed by Facebook in December 2008,  the suit alleges violations by Power of the CAN-SPAM Act in addition to the…
Continue Reading California Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment For Facebook On Its CAN-SPAM Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, And Penal Code Section 502 Claims Against Social Media Aggregator

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that U.S. v. Nosal be reheard en banc by all of the Appeals Court judges and that the “three-judge panel opinion [in U.S. v. Nosal, 642 F.3d 781 (9th Cir. 2011)] shall not be cited as precedent by or to any court of the Ninth Circuit.”

Accordingly, the ability of employers…
Continue Reading Dead Again? Use of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act By Employers To Combat Employee Data Theft Limited By Ninth Circuit’s Latest Ruling

By David Monachino

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) requires, among other things, that a plaintiff demonstrate a “loss” of $5,000 or more. See 18 U.S.C. § 1030(c)(4)(A)(i)(I).

In Animators at Law, Inc. v. Capital Legal Solutions, LLC, et al., Case No. 10-CV-1341 E.D.Va. (May 10, 2011) (unpublished) (TSE) two former employees of Animators’ abruptly left to join…
Continue Reading Outside Counsel Fees May Be a Qualified Loss to Meet the CFAA’s $5000 Jurisdictional Requirement

By Scott Schaefers and Robert Milligan

On April 28, 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held in an important decision upholding legal protections for employer data that employees may be held liable under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. 1030 et seq.) in cases where employees steal or remove electronic files or data in violation of…
Continue Reading The Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is Back in Play for Employer Suits Against Dishonest Employees in the Ninth Circuit

By Robert Milligan and Joshua Salinas

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) remains a potent weapon for employers to use against disgruntled employees who steal company data. The Sixth Circuit in U.S. v. Batti, No. 09-2050, 2011 WL 111745 (6th Cir. 2011)recently upheld the criminal conviction of an employee who allegedly accessed, copied, and leaked confidential information…
Continue Reading Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Remains Viable Claim For Employers To Assert Against Employees Who Steal Company Data

By Paul Freehling and Scott Schaefers

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ December 27, 2010 decision in U.S. v. Rodriguez, Appeal No. 09-15265, — F.3d –, 2010 WL 5253231 (11th Cir. Dec. 27, 2010) may mark a significant split among the federal appellate circuits over the meaning of the phrases “without authorization” and “exceeds authorized access” under the federal…
Continue Reading The Eleventh Circuit Splits with the Ninth Circuit in Interpreting the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act