14 DAY TRIAL // “Aaron’s Law,” the bill named after Aaron Swartz – the activists who committed suicide while being prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) for breaking into MIT’s JSTOR archive – has been introduced to the US senate.
Senator Ron Wyden, who introduced the legislation that’s designed to bring the 30-year-old CFAA in line with today’s digital landscape, says the current CFAA is “vague and problematic.”
“The law should not enable Americans to be prosecuted for felonies because of a mere violation of a website’s term of service,” the senator said.
“The CFAA’s broad scope and vague standards all but invite prosecutorial abuse. The important reforms we propose today would bring the law in line with the reality of the digital landscape of 2013 while making sure the changes do not undermine the ability to fully prosecute malicious hacks.”
If the proposed reform is accepted, individuals who violate a website’s terms of service, employment agreements or contracts will not be automatically prosecuted under the CFAA.
The new bill aims at removing redundant provisions that have been used by prosecutors to charge defendants with multiple felonies for the same infraction.
The bill has also been introduced to the US House of Representatives by Rep. Zoe Lofgren.