E-Commerce Law Week, Issue 582

Employers Win a Round in the Fight Over Whether Disloyal Employees Are "Authorized" to Access Company Computers

A federal court in Missouri has weighed in on whether a disloyal employee's use of his employer's computer system is acting "without authorization" or "exceed[ing] authorized access," in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.  As we've previously reported, courts have split on the issue, with many courts (notably the Ninth Circuit) holding that an employee who is permitted to access the system is not acting "without authorization" or in excess of authorization even if he is accessing the system for an illegitimate purpose, such as taking proprietary information to give to a competing firm.  The court in Missouri, however, followed the Seventh Circuit's decision in International Airport Centers, L.L.C., v. Citrin, which held that an employee loses authorization to access company computers when he acts to benefit his own interests, and not those of the company.

Europeans Seek To Expand The Strike Zone

For a continent that has not been a big fan of America's Pastime, Europe sure has developed a fascination with three-strike laws.  The French National Assembly recently passed a bill that would allow courts to block Internet access to subscribers who repeatedly violate copyright laws, giving France one of the toughest copyright infringement laws on the books.  The EU meanwhile reached agreement on an amendment to its larger electronic communications reform package that provides that Internet access can only be blocked "with due respect for the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to privacy."  Across the Channel, the UK's Business Secretary, Lord Peter Mandelson, stated that the government would propose measures to take on illegal file-sharing that would emphasize "clear warnings to people suspected of unlawful file-sharing, with technical measures such as account suspension only used as a very last resort."  And in Germany, the "Coalition Agreement" among the parties forming Germany's new coalition government promises to toughen copyright laws (see section VII.2), although the Agreement does not refer to specific measures that the government will propose.

Court Red Flags the Application of Red Flags Rule to Lawyers

A federal court in the District of Columbia has blocked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from forcing practicing lawyers to comply with its final rule concerning identity theft "red flags."  On the same day (and two days before the rule was scheduled to take effect), the FTC announced that it would delay enforcement of the rule (once again) until June 1, 2010.  The FTC stated that it was delaying enforcement "[a]t the request of Members of Congress."  

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