Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog
J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can I be arrested without evidence against me?”
Tech industry insiders are guffawing at new cybersecurity initiatives unveiled by the Obama administration. According to insiders familiar with the proposals, new cybersecurity-targeted criminal laws will make criminals of us all.
According to Paul Wagenseil of Tom’s Guide US, the proposed changes to the 1984 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act would “make many commonplace security research practices—and media reporting on those practices—federal crimes.”
Nate Cardozo, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, California, told researchers and intellectual property professionals at a Washington, D.C. conference that sharing passwords for online accounts or even sharing an HBO “GO” password with a friend could constitute felonies under the proposed legislation. HBO—short for “Home Box Office”—is a cable-television based distributor of movies and entertainment programs.
In sum, the proposals “broaden the definition of computer crime and stiffen penalties for existing crimes,” with maximum penalties for violations being pushed from ten years to twenty years.