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Appeals Court Rules TOS Violations Aren't Criminal
Trepidity writes "In a decision today (PDF), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act 'does not extend to violations of use restrictions,' and therefore violating terms of service and corporate use policies is not a federal crime. Law profesor Orin Kerr cheered the decision, but since three other Courts of Appeals have reached opposite decisions, it might be heading to the Supreme Court."
And therefor, violating a TOS can't automatically be seen as criminal activity. Kudos to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for having their head on straight.
If a corporation can unilaterally change a TOS agreement AFTER someone has signed up for the service (which they do all the time), how can anybody then claim that violating it is a criminal offense?
I think it's hard to tell whether this is good for consumers (because we have the freedom to do what we want with our programs, etc), or bad for consumers (because it makes things less safe for companies). Either way, I'm happy for now, I guess.
Lower courts have held that violating a (basically TOS) is a crime? Is there ever real world logic applied to these decisions or is it basically (let's rewrite every law when it applies to the internet). "What are you in for?" "Leaving food stuffs in the fridge after 5pm on friday, clearly against company policy".
A court ruling out of line with three other rulings is certainly a sign that the court wants a higher court to look at this... 3-1 scores don't matter, just that the case got there.
Violating terms of use is not a criminal offense.
It's a civil matter known as breach of contract, the solution for which is getting sued.
Now if you were forging a mac address in an attempt to masquerade as another subscriber, or hacked the service to get free internet or evade a service termination, that would be different and probably *would* qualify as criminal.
Breaking TOS and having your service yoinked is like going shopping at a grocery store and getting thrown out by security for swearing, or like getting an eviction notice from your landlord because you didn't pay your rent or because you broke the door. It's not the same as shoplifting or burglary.
The only time a TOS violation should be criminal is if what you're doing amounts to trespassing.
Once again a terrible title and summary. This had nothing to do with a TOS. It was about trying to prosecute someone criminally for violating their workplace's authorized access policy.
So you're not in jail. Big deal. They can still take all your money via the civil courts. Then you're homeless. It's like jail except that the cell has poor climate control and the 3 hots and a cot are unreliable. Nothing will change until civil suits are reformed. For starters, guaranteed right to a jury trial with the possibility of nullification required to be informed to the jury from the bench (not the bench lying and saying that it doesn't exist). Also, reasonable doubt, not prepoderance. Also, no civil trial for the same matter already settled in criminal courts.
Wow, it might actually be a free country again if we could pull that off. Oh and look, I expressed it in one paragraph that everybody can understand. Just like back in the 1700s. Imagine that!
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
I was so looking forward to forcefully citizen's-arresting the next HR asshole to demand my Facebook login.
"Credit card companies are not authorized to have their mail access my (physical) mailbox, unless they enclose a cashier's check for $1,000 in my name."
Now go ahead send me another one of these credit card offers!
First, as other posters have pointed out, it's an employer/employee agreement, not a consumer ToS. Second, the decision was by the Ninth Circuit a.k.a the People's Republic of the Ninth Circuit. The five Republicans on SCOTUS like to slap down the Ninth Circuit's rulings out of principle or spite or both. This will not end well for the employee.
Kozinski's opinions are usually worth reading.
So, those employers that demand access to your social networking accounts, or, say, bank accounts, personal e-mail accounts, etc. They get a free pass at violating those sites' Terms of Use and can sign on with employees' access credentials ... NO PROBLEM?
"Flame away, I wear asbestos underwear"
We should use the CFAA to extradite the 1000s of Chinese gold farmers creating inflation in World of Warcraft. They are in esense printing money.
So any kid who cheats at a computer game can go to jail? Imagine filling up the jails with all the fat kids who hacked Diablo ?
The people who mod the IPAD so it runs Flash?
stuff on the level traffic tickets should not be a felony.
Now lot's of tos violation are on the level of some traffic tickets where most people don't follow the rules 100% and some of them are very technical when you get down to them.
If it was a Federal Crime, Basically what it would lead to, is private entities been able to send people to jail for breaking rules not set by the government (ie laws...). If this does start to happen, then the corporations have effectively directly taken over law making in this country, and could even possibly put in jail terms and penlites for breaking their tos's.
Having won a civil suit for a 3,000 debt on a customer I can say it's a pain in the ass to collect. You can seize certain assets, say a car parked outside of their home. But if it's in a garage forget it. You can file paperwork to seize a bank account but you only get that one shot to do it and you don't know how much is in there. You can garnish wages, provided they have a job and/or are not working for cash. You can place a lein on property, if they own any, but you only get paid if they want to sell. If they have a mortgage forget it, bank gets first dibs.
violating TOS can only be seen as breach-of-contract. That makes it a civil offense.