Ric Simmons 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1703 Whenever a legislature creates a technology-specific crime, it faces a number of challenges. First, there is a risk that the new statute will merely duplicate existing crimes, thus over criminalizing the conduct and creating unnecessary confusion. Second, the legislature needs to ensure that it provides the proper... Read More

Paul Ohm and Blake Reid 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1672 This Article identifies a profound, ongoing shift in the modern administrative state: from the regulation of things to the regulation of code. This shift has and will continue to place previously isolated agencies in an increasing state of overlap, raising the likelihood of inconsistent... Read More

Jonathan Mayer 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1644 Over the past decade, courts have radically reshaped the landscape of federal computer crime law. Through a set of innovative interpretive maneuvers, the judiciary has both greatly clarified and sharply narrowed the scope of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) liability. This “narrow” CFAA doctrine is winning... Read More

Michael J. Madison 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1616 Contests over the meaning and application of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) expose long-standing, complex questions about the sources and impacts of the concept of authority in law and culture. Accessing a computer network “without authorization” and by “exceeding authorized access” is forbidden... Read More

Michael L. Levy 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1591 The problem of what constitutes “unauthorized access” and “access in excess of authorization” to a protected computer under 18 U.S.C. § 1030 is proving to be intractable. At the same time, businesses are experiencing significant losses, as disloyal employees, on their way to new employment, take... Read More

Matthew B. Kugler 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1568 Unauthorized use of computer systems is at the core of computer trespass statutes, but there is little understanding of where everyday people draw the line between permissible and impermissible computer use. This Article presents a study that measures lay authorization beliefs and punishment preferences for a... Read More

Orin S. Kerr 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1544 This Article argues that the existing regime for sentencing violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) is based on a conceptual error that consistently leads to improper sentencing recommendations. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines treat CFAA violations as economic crimes. Most CFAA crimes are rooted... Read More

William A. Hall, Jr. 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1523 In United States v. Nosal, the Ninth Circuit held that the government may not prosecute certain cases under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) where a computer was accessed by a user with some right of access (i.e., an insider) for a prohibited purpose.... Read More

James Grimmelmann 84 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1500 The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) makes it a crime to “access[] a computer without authorization or exceed[] authorized access.” Courts and commentators have struggled to explain what types of conduct by a computer user are “without authorization.” But this approach is backwards; authorization is... Read More