Favorite Aaron Swartz was a digital rights champion who believed deeply in keeping the internet open. His life was cut short in 2013, after federal prosecutors charged him under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) for systematically downloading academic journal articles from the online database JSTOR. Facing the prospect of a long and unjust…
All posts tagged Computer Fraud And Abuse Act Reform
Restricting Flipper is a Zero Accountability Approach to Security: Canadian Government Response to Car Hacking
Favorite On February 8, François-Philippe Champagne, the Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced Canada would ban devices used in keyless car theft. The only device mentioned by name was the Flipper Zero—the multitool device that can be used to test, explore, and debug different wireless protocols such as RFID, NFC, infrared, and Bluetooth.…
Celebrating the Life of Aaron Swartz: Nov. 12 and Nov. 13
Favorite This weekend, EFF is celebrating the life and work of programmer, activist, and entrepreneur Aaron Swartz by participating in the 2022 Aaron Swartz Day and Hackathon. This year, the event will be held in person at the Internet Archive in San Francisco on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13. It will also be livestreamed; links…
DOJ’s New CFAA Policy is a Good Start But Does Not Go Far Enough to Protect Security Researchers
Favorite The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the notoriously vague anti-hacking law, is long overdue for major reform. Among many problems, the CFAA has been used to target security researchers whose work uncovering software vulnerabilities frequently irritates corporations (and U.S. Attorneys). The Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced a new policy under which it…
We Have Questions for DEF CON's Puzzling Keynote Speaker, DHS Secretary Mayorkas
Favorite The Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will be giving a DEF CON keynote address this year. Those attending this weekend’s hybrid event will have a unique opportunity to “engage” with the man who heads the department responsible for surveillance of immigrants, Muslims, Black activists, and other marginalized communities. We at EFF, as longtime…
Flex Your Power. Own Your Tech.
Favorite Before advanced computer graphics, a collection of clumsy pixels would represent ideas far more complex than technology could capture on its own. With a little imagination, crude blocks on a screen could transform into steel titans and unknown worlds. It’s that spirit of creativity and vision that we celebrate each year at the Las…
EFF to Ninth Circuit: Recent Supreme Court Decision in Van Buren Does Not Criminalize Web Scraping
Favorite In an amicus brief filed Friday, EFF and the Internet Archive argued to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Van Buren v. United States shows that the federal computer crime law does not criminalize the common and useful practice of scraping publicly available information on the internet. The…
Van Buren is a Victory Against Overbroad Interpretations of the CFAA, and Protects Security Researchers
Favorite The Supreme Court’s Van Buren decision today overturned a dangerous precedent and clarified the notoriously ambiguous meaning of “exceeding authorized access” in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the federal computer crime law that’s been misused to prosecute beneficial and important online activity. The decision is a victory for all Internet users, as it…
Supreme Court Overturns Overbroad Interpretation of CFAA, Protecting Security Researchers and Everyday Users
Favorite EFF has long fought to reform vague, dangerous computer crime laws like the CFAA. We’re gratified that the Supreme Court today acknowledged that overbroad application of the CFAA risks turning nearly any user of the Internet into a criminal based on arbitrary terms of service. We remember the tragic and unjust results of the…
Victory! California City Drops Lawsuit Accusing Journalists of Violating Computer Crime Law
Favorite The City of Fullerton, California has abandoned a lawsuit against two bloggers and a local website. The suit dangerously sought to expand California’s computer crime law in a way that threatened investigative reporting and everyday internet use. The city’s lawsuit against the bloggers and the website Friends For Fullerton’s Future alleged, in part, that…