Grassley, Franken Win Passage of Common Sense Amendment to Curb Over-Criminalization
WASHINGTON – Senators Chuck Grassley and Al Franken won approval of a common sense amendment that would clarify that the definition of “exceeds authorized access” in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act does not include violations of internet terms of service agreements or non-government employment agreements restricting computer access.
The amendment was accepted by voice vote to the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act that is being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“When we sit down at home or at work, we check our email, read the news and generally go about our routine. What we don’t know is that we may be in violation of federal criminal law based upon a violation of internet terms of service agreements or employment agreements for misusing computers,” Grassley said. “This is a common sense solution that helps clean up some of the expansive provisions of our criminal code and ensures that innocent computer users are not federal criminals.”
“Our laws should protect people—not turn them into criminals for doing something as basic as checking Facebook or their Fantasy Football scores,” said Franken. “The amendment I introduced with Sen. Grassley does something very simple: it makes sure that if the only thing you’ve done wrong is violate a website’s Terms of Service or your employer’s computer use policy, you can’t be charged with a crime or sued in federal court.”
Under a reading of current law argued in federal court by the Department of Justice, something as simple as checking your personal email account at work may be against the law. By extension, this reading could also make it a federal felony for a father to use his son’s Facebook password to log into the son’s Facebook account and check messages and photos; for a 17 year-old to claim she is 18 in order to sell goods in certain online marketplaces; or even for using instant messenger on a computer at work.
Two recent criminal prosecutions brought by the Justice Department in California that have argued breaching terms of service on websites is a violation of federal law. Legal commentators have criticized these prosecutions as an overreach of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. They point out that this expansion of the law could lead to criminalizing any misuse of an internet website terms of service agreement.
