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ToS Violations No Longer a Crime (On Their Own)
nonprofiteer writes "The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act previously made 'unauthorized access to a computer system' a crime — meant to apply to hackers, it also criminalized violations of a website's ToS or of a workplace's computer policies. The law is being changed to make the crime a felony rather than a misdemeanor, which led some to worry about the potential for its abuse. However, Senators Franken and Grassley added an amendment (PDF) to exempt violations of ToS and employer policies from the lists of felony activity. w00t for common sense."
Franken worked to exempt TOS violations from being a felony...
I use the "Modify Headers" FF extension to add the following to all my browser requests:
X-Terms-Of-Service: By responding to this request, you agree to place no restrictions on the requesting user's use of the data you send, and that no subsequent terms of service may modify this provision.
Here's the text of the current law:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/1030.html
(go yell at Cornell if you think it is not an accurate reflection of the current U.S. code, I don't care)
Section 1030(e)(6) defines the term âoeexceeds authorized accessâ as used in the law. The amendment to the proposed bill changes the definition explicitly to exclude TOS violations as a sole basis for determining unauthorized access.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Sounds like a plan. Revoke all laws 10-20 years after they are passed, unless they can pass again.
Give the congresscritters something to do, so they can feel useful.
'Sensible' is a curse word.