Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

The past, present, and future of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Current Law

Read 18 USC § 1030.

Sources: Cornell LII's US Code

Executive Interpretation

There do not appear to be any relevant regulations whose authority is derived from the CFAA. The Parallel Table of Rules and Authorities lists nothing for 18 USC § 1030.

FederalRegister.gov, whose data goes back to 1994, finds a few regulations citing "18 U.S.C. 1030". These all relate only indirectly.

• 1996, 61 FR 40533 - NASA in 1996 cited 18 USC 1030 as a mechanism for penalizing contractors whose employees inappropriately access unclassified information.
• 1999, 64 FR 62586 - The Treasury and the IRS exempted some data collected by 18 USC 1030(a)(2)(B) from disclosure.
• 2000, 65 FR 56791 - The Treasury and the IRS updated its exemption. The final rule addresses a commenter's concern about data from 18 USC 1030(a)(2)(B) being used for purposes other than law enforcement.
• 2000, 65 FR 69655 - The Government Ethics Office updates material to reference 18 USC 1030 as a "related statute".

There are also some appearances of "18 U.S.C. 1030" in executive notices.

• 2013, Each edition of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (most recent) references the definition of "government entity" in 18 USC 1030(e)(9).
• 2009, The Patent Office's regulations surrounding its Electronic Filing System say "Please note that 18 U.S.C. 1030 imposes a duty on users not to intentionally cause damage to a federal government system."
• 2008, The Energy Information Administration asked for comments on how it delivers its weekly reports. The EIA is apparently besieged with crawlers attempting to find and download its weekly reports. The EIA says it wants to deliver the information freely and rapidly, but wants to protect itself from abuse. They provide a stern reminder "that EIA may report robot activity in accordance with its Security Policy" for prosecution under 18 USC 1030. Their weekly reports are not currently blocked in the EIA's robots.txt.

Sources: FederalRegister.gov's advanced search, Scout

In the Courts

On CourtListener, which searches a wide variety of court opinions:

• referencing "18 U.S.C. 1030"
• referencing "computer fraud and abuse act"

CourtListener's bulk data is available for download.

... to be continued ...

Legislative History

• 1984, Title II, Chapter XXI of "Acquisition of Foreign Evidence Improvements Act". Pub. L. 98-473, 98 Stat. 2190. Original text: PDF, page 354
• 1986, Amended by "Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986". Pub. L. 99-474, 100 Stat. 1213. Original text: PDF
• 1989, Amended by "Enforcement Authority Improvements Act". Pub L. 101-73, 103 Stat. 183. Original text: PDF, page 320

Sources: OLRC's Popular Names Table, GPO's Statutes at Large Collection

... to be continued ...

Tracking Future Activity

• CourtListener provides alerts on federal court opinions.
• FederalRegister.gov provides alerts on all executive branch activity.
• Scout provides alerts on federal legislation, regulation, speeches in Congress, and GAO Reports.

@konklone has created a combined alert on the CFAA that brings together data on multiple search terms from each of CourtListener and Scout. Suggestions for additional things to add are welcome.