'Aaron's law' looks to modify the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Posted by: Jon on 06/21/2013 09:06 AM
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Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) is in the process of introducing legislation in honor of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide while awaiting prosecution. The bill, named Aaron's Law, would clarify that violating a company's terms of service is not a crime under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. (CFAA)
Tech News Daily reports that if passed, Aaron's Law would change the CFAA so that violating terms of service, website notices, contracts or employment agreements could no longer be considered a federal offense.
The bill would also remove perceived redundancies in the CFAA wherein a person can be charged multiple times for the same crime.
Lofgren began drafting the bill in January, and even went to Reddit, a popular online discussion forum that Swartz co-founded, to solicit public opinion.
Now the bill will make its way through the House of Representatives and, if it survives, eventually go to President Barack Obama's desk to be signed into law. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is expected to introduce a companion bill in the Senate soon, according to The Hill.
Swartz was charged in 2011 for allegedly using Massachusetts Institute of Technology servers to download a total of 4 million academic journal articles from JSTOR, a digital library that offers subscription-based access.
Neither JSTOR nor MIT pressed charges. But a Middlesex County (Mass.) Superior Court grand jury indicted Swartz in 2011 with breaking and entering, grand larceny and unauthorized access to a computer network. Concurrent federal charges would have put him in prison for a possible 35 years, if found guilty.
Later, in September 2012, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts issued a second federal indictment that superseded the earlier ones, adding nine charges and 15 more years to the penalty.
His death was the catalyst for Lofgren's bill, which you can view in full here. "This flaw in the CFAA allows the government to imprison Americans for a violation of a non-negotiable, private agreement that is dictated by a corporation," Lofgren wrote. "…The law must separate its treatment of everyday Internet activity from criminals intent on causing serious damage to financial, social, civic, or security institutions."
Tech News Daily reports that if passed, Aaron's Law would change the CFAA so that violating terms of service, website notices, contracts or employment agreements could no longer be considered a federal offense.The bill would also remove perceived redundancies in the CFAA wherein a person can be charged multiple times for the same crime.
Lofgren began drafting the bill in January, and even went to Reddit, a popular online discussion forum that Swartz co-founded, to solicit public opinion.
Now the bill will make its way through the House of Representatives and, if it survives, eventually go to President Barack Obama's desk to be signed into law. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is expected to introduce a companion bill in the Senate soon, according to The Hill.
Swartz was charged in 2011 for allegedly using Massachusetts Institute of Technology servers to download a total of 4 million academic journal articles from JSTOR, a digital library that offers subscription-based access.
Neither JSTOR nor MIT pressed charges. But a Middlesex County (Mass.) Superior Court grand jury indicted Swartz in 2011 with breaking and entering, grand larceny and unauthorized access to a computer network. Concurrent federal charges would have put him in prison for a possible 35 years, if found guilty.
Later, in September 2012, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts issued a second federal indictment that superseded the earlier ones, adding nine charges and 15 more years to the penalty.
His death was the catalyst for Lofgren's bill, which you can view in full here. "This flaw in the CFAA allows the government to imprison Americans for a violation of a non-negotiable, private agreement that is dictated by a corporation," Lofgren wrote. "…The law must separate its treatment of everyday Internet activity from criminals intent on causing serious damage to financial, social, civic, or security institutions."
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