Old Law Issues

By Brad

Via Grant McCool of Reuters comes an example of how an old law can potentially create new headaches due to the speed of technology. At issue is an anti-computer hacking law passed way back in 1984:

The debate is centered around a key phrase in the law: that it is illegal to “intentionally access a computer without authorization or exceed authorized access.” Critics argue this language is too broad and vague and could turn ordinary people into criminals for things many do routinely, such as dabble in online shopping or scan an online matchmaking site at work.

“This statute has the potential to affect millions of Americans in the workplace who work at or use a computer to do their job,” said Brent Cossrow, a partner at law firm Fisher & Phillips in Radnor, Pennsylvania, which specializes in computer breach cases. “Hopefully, it gets cleared up soon.”

The whole debate is complicated, interesting, and definitely worth reading about.