GWU Law Professor Orin Kerr's op-ed in today's NYT "Should Faking a Name on Facebook Be a Felony?", and his take on how far the US Department of Justice wants to take this 1986 legislation is a must-read.
Unknown to most, that legislation has been quietly broadened over the years, and unless anyone raises a voice, its about to become a felony to write/post anything that "exceeds authorized access" to any computer, including writing/posting anything that's not true.
Sounds crazy? Well, the DOJ is planning to exploit the definition of "exceeds authorized access", the ubiquitous 'terms and conditions' that are part and parcel to the very tiny fine print displayed in every software application, and a condition to virtually every third party website, including social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Aggressively over-promoting the benefits of a soft drink?Are you doing the Alec-Bloviator-Baldwin thing, and stating on your Twitter account or FB page that "the barrista at Starbucks purposefully gave me bad service and didn't know what he was doing!"? Boom: Potential 3 year jail sentence in a federal slammer.
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