Dept. of Justice Instructions on Prosecuting Computer Crimes

Cyber Crime is a massive, and still growing, Social Issue.

Did you know about this law?

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 makes it a crime for anyone to access without authorization a computer or computer system used by a financial institution, US government agency, or any organization or individual involved in interstate or foreign commerce or communication.

Dept. of Justice Instructions on Prosecuting Computer Crimes.

It's astounding what can be Prosecuted these days. Signing in to a website for harassment and even worse if the website is any way involved in Interstate or International Commerce is able to be Prosecuted. All of these websites that use Ads to generate income to keep the website running, or like Ebay, which has commerce happening every day.

I use Ebay - I wonder if I fall under this.

How about you?

a reply to: CryHavoc


I use ATS.


I'm guessing a visa to Biden's USSA is out of reach due to my political slant.


The last time I got a 10 year visa for a once off trip I admitted to a background in explosives, visited 3 red flag countries within the previous 5 years and that my housemate was a pilot with most of his experience also in red flag countries.


Good times although Alaska is a much more interesting place from the comfort of your own living room.

The key words are "without authorization" .
If you have a legitimate login to any website , then you are authorized to use said website following T&Cs of that website.

Laws are an artificial form signed by live people. That's how the world has worked almost forever. Take it or leave it.

a reply to: CryHavoc

Firstly this law is almost 40 years old, and secondly it applies to people accessing US based computer systems without authorisation.

It means that if somebody overseas hacks into a US based computer they can be prosecuted under us law. Which sounds fair to me.

If course, that person would need to be extradited to the US first, which is a whole other thing.

If you do a crime in a country then you should be liable for prosecution in that country, even if the crime was committed remotely.

originally posted by: 19Bones79
a reply to: CryHavoc


I use ATS.


I'm guessing a visa to Biden's USSA is out of reach due to my political slant.


The last time I got a 10 year visa for a once off trip I admitted to a background in explosives, visited 3 red flag countries within the previous 5 years and that my housemate was a pilot with most of his experience also in red flag countries.


Good times although Alaska is a much more interesting place from the comfort of your own living room.

Since this is about computer crime you're all good unless you did any hacking of us system somewhere along the lines.

Laws are left open for interpretation to always have a gotcha. The US law books are filled with laws similarly written and the average person probably unknowingly breaks a law once a day at the least. So just remember you piss off the wrong person they can find a way to get you.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

I did alter some copyright protected game files in qbasic on my 286 back in the day...



😬

originally posted by: AaarghZombies
a reply to: CryHavoc

Firstly this law is almost 40 years old, and secondly it applies to people accessing US based computer systems without authorisation.

It means that if somebody overseas hacks into a US based computer they can be prosecuted under us law. Which sounds fair to me.

If course, that person would need to be extradited to the US first, which is a whole other thing.

If you do a crime in a country then you should be liable for prosecution in that country, even if the crime was committed remotely.

Makes it even more complicated if a US companies servers aren't based in the USA.

Cyber crimes have been illegal for a long time yet there is nobody enforcing this much, they just tell us to beware. If they do try to scam you, the authorities say it is out of their jurisdiction, including the local FBI office. The telephone scams are going nuts, I will never donate to any charity that calls me, I tell them and they still call back the next day....same person...I can recognize voices pretty well.

The government is not going to protect us as individuals from cyber crimes...might as well get used to that, it is the new age way to steal from people with hardly any chance of getting caught.

Using a fake name to sign up with a website can be a crime.

But many of us that come to ATS use a fake name to sign up with ATS to keep our employers from finding out we come to this site.

originally posted by: ANNED
But many of us that come to ATS use a fake name to sign up with ATS to keep our employers from finding out we come to this site.

Employers have way too much power concerning when they aren't paying someone. If I'm off the clock, my employer shouldn't have any say.