On May 19, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revised its policy regarding charging decisions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The new policy makes clear, “for the first time,” that the DOJ “should decline prosecution” of “good faith” security research, even if said research involves a technical violation of the CFAA.1 The new policy also limits prosecutions based on terms of service (TOS) or other boilerplate contractual violations, in recognition of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Van Buren v. United States, 593 U.S. __ (2021).
Continue Reading DOJ Acknowledges Limits to the CFAA, but Questions (and Possible Civil Liability) Remain for Security Researchers and Others

On March 30, 2018, in Sandvig v. Sessions,1 the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that a group of academic researchers can move forward with their First Amendment challenge to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA),2 a federal law that criminalizes, among other things, accessing a computer in a manner that “exceeds authorized access.”

The CFAA was enacted in the early 1980s in response to concerns that there were not enough criminal laws on the books to address emerging computer crimes.3 In its early days, the statute narrowly prohibited harmful computer misuse such as malicious hacking and attempts to break into government computers. In 1986, however, Congress began passing a series of amendments that significantly expanded the statute’s reach. Today, many view the CFAA as an overbroad, vague law that criminalizes standard computer conduct in the digital age. Others view it as a pragmatic tool to deter unwanted computer misuse that harms businesses and consumers alike. As a result, the outcome of this case will have implications for individuals who seek to obtain data through means like scraping, and websites that seek to deter unwanted conduct through contract-based restrictions on access to their services.
Continue Reading Federal Judge Allows Researchers’ First Amendment Challenge to CFAA’s “Access” Provision to Move Forward