A Copyfighter\’s Musings

At the Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr linked to his new article entitled, “Cybercrime’s Scope: Interpreting “Access: and “Authorization” in Computer Misuse Statutes.”  Haven’t read it, but it looks interesting.  Kerr is a moderate supporter of the DMCA, so it’s not surprising that he redefines access without authorization in terms of circumventing technological protections.  Significantly, he excludes contract-based restrictions from his definition.  When reading this, interrogate whether this distinction actually creates a meaningful “balance.” (Note: he does not say that ToSs shouldn’t be enforceable at all - his analysis is restricted to criminal computer misuse statutes.  Think about how the civil context is just as important, see Bowers v. Bay state.)

Filed by Derek Slater at 4:03 pm under General news