The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Swartz, Auernheimer, and beyond

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is controversial for its broad reach and potential for misuse.

In this video from Shmoocon 2013, Professor Orin Kerr and Marcia Hofmann from EFF discuss several recent prosecutions brought under the Act, including cases against Aaron Swartz and Andrew Auernheimer.

They explain the disagreement in the courts about to how the interpret the Act and will also discuss efforts to reform the law following Swartz’s tragic death.

Orin Kerr is the Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor at the George Washington University Law School. He teaches and writes about computer crime law. He is a former prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice and has also represented defendants in computer crime cases.

Marcia Hofmann is a senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where she works on issues including computer security, electronic privacy, free expression, and copyright. She is also a non-residential fellow at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society and an adjunct professor at the University of California Hastings.