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Court Rules Sending Too Many Emails Is "Hacking"

Posted by samzenpus on from the if-you-send-it-more-than-twice-your-hacking-it dept.

An anonymous reader writes "An appeals court has ruled that having people send a company a lot of emails (in this case, a union protesting a company's business practices) qualifies as hacking under the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act. We're not even talking about a true DDoS action here, but just a bunch of protest emails. Part of the problem is that the company apparently set up their email to only hold a small number of emails in their inbox, and the court seems to think the union should take the blame for stuffing those inboxes."

2 of 317 comments (clear)

  1. My Mailbox at Home is Full by rotide · · Score: 5, Funny

    My physical mailbox at home is kind of small and when I go on vacation it can get full to the point of no longer being able to put more mail in. Do I get to go after Capital One or any/all of the other habitual mail spammers now? If not, why? Because this Act only covers electrons flowing through wires and not physical items physically limiting my mailbox?

  2. Re:Does it work the other way 'round? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    A company's actions, as long as they serve its profit motive, are beyond reproach.

    You sure you don't work for BP?