A federal judge has determined that an employee who failed to return her laptop after taking a job with a competitor, and then wiped the data on her laptop clean, can not be sued under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
The former employer who was the plaintiff ?maintained that the laptop was considered a ?protected? computer under the CFAA because the former employee had been using it in interstate commerce before she left. Therefore, the employer argued, her unauthorized use violated the CFAA.
But U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani disagreed.
?The Act requires ? that a computer, to be protected, ?is used in? interstate commerce,? Talwani wrote, granting the employee?s motion to dismiss. ?And at the time of her unauthorized use of the [l]aptop, the [l]aptop was not being used in interstate commerce. ? [T]he fact that the [l]aptop was formerly used in interstate commerce does not make the later deletion of files ? a crime that is ?interstate? in nature. Instead, such actions are appropriately addressed under state law.?
The seven-page decision is?Pine Environmental Services, LLC v. Carson, et al., Lawyers Weekly No. 02-417-14.?The full text of the ruling can be found by clicking here.
Being that we are a computer repair and service company, who services law firms and their clients, ?I would like to educate everyone about what the?Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is. ?The?Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?(CFAA)?was enacted by Congress in 1986 as an amendment to existing computer fraud law (18 U.S.C.???1030), which had been included in the?Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. It was written to clarify and increase the scope of the previous version of?18 U.S.C.???1030?while, in theory, limiting federal jurisdiction to cases “with a compelling federal interest-i.e., where computers of the federal government or certain financial institutions are involved or where the crime itself is interstate in nature.” (see “Protected Computer”, below). In addition to clarifying a number of the provisions in the original section 1030, the CFAA also criminalized additional computer-related acts. Provisions addressed the distribution of malicious code and denial of service attacks. Congress also included in the CFAA a provision criminalizing trafficking in passwords and similar items.
So if you are in a similar situation, and you need to make sure you are protected, remember, we here at Computer Geeks can properly wipe and old work computer so that you are not violating any laws covered by the CFAA. This employee did it right and was protected and we can help you do it right too!