The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is a federal law that imposes criminal and civil penalties on computer hackers. The original version of this law made it a federal crime to access government computers without authorization or in excess of authorization. The scope of the law has subsequently been expanded by Congress to include all “protected computers”, broadly defined as any computer connected to the Internet. Here are some relevant links:
- Overview (via Wikipedia)
- What is the CFAA? (via Wired)
- List of the most controversial hacking cases (via Wired)
- Overview of the CFAA and policy recommendations (via the Federalist Society)
- Critique of the CFAA (via the Electronic Frontier Foundation)
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