Aarons Law Introduced: Now Is the Time to Reform the

CFAA
Today, Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Jim Sensenbrenner, and Sen. Ron Wyden introduced Aarons Law, a
bipartisan bill to reform te !omputer "raud and Abuse Act #!"AA$, te law notoriously used in
te aggressi%e prosecution of te late Aaron Swart&. Lofgren and Sensenbrenner's bill draws from
(""s own proposal written in te wa)e of Aarons tragic deat and fi*es some of te main
problems wit te !"AA. +ou can tell your representati%e to support common sense canges to te
!"AA by going ere.
"or years, te !"AA as been widely abused by te prosecutors to amper security researc, stifle
inno%ation, and loc) people away for years wo a%e caused little or no economic arm. Te !"AA
was originally intended to co%er te ac)ing of defense department and ban) computers, but it's
been e*panded so tat it now co%ers %irtually e%ery computer on te ,nternet wile meting out
disproportionate penalties for %irtual crimes. We%e written e*tensi%ely about te need for !"AA
reform and Aarons Law is a great first step.
"irst, Lofgren and Sensenbrenner's bill deletes te %ague prase -e*ceeds autori&ed access. and
clarifies te definition of -access witout autori&ation,. )ey fi*es in a law tat as for years been
misinterpreted because of its %ague definitions. /y fi*ing tese definitions, te bill incorporates
0udgments from te "ourt and 1int circuits, wic eld tat access in %iolation of pri%ate
contracts, li)e employer agreements and terms of ser%ice, are not criminal offenses under te
!"AA.
Tis is a great step forward. Te 2epartment of Justice as aggressi%ely argued for an interpretation
of te law tat would criminali&e website terms of ser%ice %iolations. As te 1int !ircuit court
e*plained, under te 23Js dangerous4and incorrect4interpretation, -posting for sale an item
proibited by !raigslist's policy, or describing yourself as 5tall, dar) and andsome wen you're
actually sort and omely, will earn you a andsome orange 0umpsuit..
Witout tis cange, te go%ernment could'%e prosecuted e%eryday Americans for %iolating low6
le%el terms of ser%ice %iolations, li)e accessing your friend's "aceboo) page, or, for a time, reading
Seventeen Magazine wen you are under 78 years old. ,n sort, e%eryone would be a criminal,
lea%ing it up to te go%ernment to decide wen and were to bring down te ammer.
Te bill also addresses pro%isions tat a%e allowed te Justice 2epartment to use te statute too
aggressi%ely by deleting one of te !"AA's redundant clauses and lowering its penalties in specific
situations. /ot are crucial factors tat lead to o%er&ealous persecutions li)e te ones seen in
Andrew 5Wee% Auerneimer and Swart&'s cases, were multiple felony counts were stac)ed on top
of eac oter for te same underlying action and were bot defendants faced decades in 0ail for
-crimes. tat caused little or no economic arm.
Wile Aarons law is clearly an impro%ement, it is important to point out tat its far from perfect.
We would a%e li)ed to see an additional redundant pro%ision cut from te !"AA and more penalty
reductions to te draconian sceme currently in te !"AA4notably, te bill sensibly remo%ed te
ability to bootstrap penalties in one clause, but not tree oters.
,n order to protect security researcers, inno%ators and ordinary citi&ens wo ta)e measures to
protect teir pri%acy, we a%e also as)ed #92"$ for a clause tat would clarify tat your efforts to
mas) or ide your real name, personally identifiable information or de%ice identifier4li)e ,9
address or :A! address ; are not criminal in and of temsel%es.
/ut common sense canges to te !"AA are needed to update te law and ma)e it in6line wit
recent court rulings, and tis bill is a great start. 1ow it's time for !ongress act. Tell your
representati%es to support common sense canges to !"AA reform.