Saturday, November 16, 2013

Congress Decides To Not Make Online Mistruths A Felony Crime

By Cornelius Nunev


George Washington University professor Orin Kerr elevated blood pressures around the country on September 14. The Op-Ed he authored for the Wall Street Journal, published that day, specified the horrors of the so-called "Facebook Felony" law. The felony provision has been amended out of the bill. However, Congress is still thinking about a cyber-security bill.

Facebook Felony facts

Teacher Kerr explained that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act were written in 1986. It would have made it a felony to lie on the internet. Taken to its logical end, this law would have made it a felony crime to violate terms of service on any site. This means that creating an account with a fake name, telling lies about your age, or even putting a fake weight on a dating profile could all count as felonies. The change to the regulation is intended, however, to target hackers that challenge the security of essential computer networks.

Protection added

The update to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is considered an amendment by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee after suggestions for individuals such as Kerr. The exemption is for "access in violation of a contractual obligation or agreement, such as an acceptable use policy or terms of service agreement, with an Internet service provider, Internet website, or non-government employer, if such violation constitutes the sole cause for determining that access to a protected computer is unauthorized." In the debate over adding the amendment, Al Franken and Chuck Grassley used several examples which were not ethical but most likely should not qualify as a felony. Things such as creating anonymous accounts on FourSquare to add good reviews of your business - not felonious, but definitely unethical. To be able to get bullies prosecuted, cyber security Statues has been used.

What this means for you

There is definitely an ever-increasing focus on online identity and security, no matter what Congress does. In 2009, the Justice Department prosecuted a woman for creating a phony profile on MySpace. In 2010, a computerized program that bought tickets on TicketMaster led to criminal charges for an individual. There are unauthorized access laws out there too. They could be put in civil cases also. You've to always follow the terms of the website you are on. When telling lies about age and other things on dating sites, you most likely won't get prosecuted. Still, you need to always know the rules of what you are getting into.




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