In the Courts

On April 10, 2012, in United States v. Nosal, —F.3d.—, WL 2012 WL 1176119 (9th Cir. April 10, 2012), the United States District Court for the Ninth Circuit held that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. ' 1030, must be construed narrowly to avoid criminalizing routine violations of private computer use policies. In a humorous opinion authored by Judge Alex Kozinski, the Ninth Circuit held that the statute could not be applied to prohibit misuse of information or services by authorized users. According to Judge Kozinski, a broader reading of the statute would have the undesirable result that “posting for sale an item prohibited by Craigslist's policy, or describing yourself as 'tall, dark and handsome,' when you're actually short and homely, will earn you a handsome orange jumpsuit.” Nosal, WL 2012 WL 1176119 at *5.

The case involved a former employee who convinced colleagues still working for his erstwhile employer to access and provide to him confidential information on the company's database to help him start a competing business. Id. at *1. While the employees had authorized access to the database, company policy prohibited disclosure of the information. Mr. Nosal was indicted on 20 counts, including theft of trade secrets, mail fraud, conspiracy and violation of the CFAA. Id.