The Supreme Court narrows the scope of a key anti-piracy law

The fight against fraud and the fight against abuse for computer science might not have a lot of use in the future. The Verge says that the Supreme Court has limited the scope of the CFAA in a decision of 6-3. The law does not cover cases when someone abuses a network to which they are allowed to access, depending on the decision. They could always deal with other charges in some situations, but not a violation of the law.

The decision took place in a case involving the former Police Officer of Georgia Nathan Van Buren. He had been accused of violating CFAA by taking $ 5,000 to find a woman’s license plate in a database, but his lawyers claimed that he did not violate the law as he had permission to access this database.

AMY CONEY BARRETT J., who presented the opinion of the Court, claimed that allowing a broader definition would have serious repercussions. “Millions” of people could face CFAA accusations simply to look or break the rules like a lot of things on a daily basis, “said justice.

The decision could prevent prosecutors from using the CFAA as a whole for computer crime, not to mention that access to someone has. The electronic border foundation also called for a victory for researchers, investigative journalists and other people may need to probe a network of security problems or crucial information. Although the EFF argued that the Court has reduced the law on the law to address issues on which “technological access barrier”, it felt that the language was sufficient to provide protection for use. legitimate.