The Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) establishes a criminal offense for whoever “intentionally accesses without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided” or “intentionally exceeds an authorization to access that facility,” and by doing so “obtains, alters, or prevents authorized access to a wire or electronic communication…
Most laws were written before people started texting naked pictures of each other on their phones. No one had heard of so-called revenge porn until around 2010, when the controversial website “Is Anyone Up?” launched, allowing users to upload sexually explicit images of former romantic partners. That site ceased operation…
Unauthorized access to another’s email account can give rise to a variety of claims. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), for example, prohibits a wide variety of improper computer activity, including unauthorized access to another’s email account. Specifically, it makes it illegal to intentionally access a computer without authorization…
Suppose your employer asks you to create a Google account for the company. So you do. You set up everything yourself: Google Drive, Google+, Gmail–the works. You even set the password to your dog’s name. All of Google’s terms and conditions are accepted by you personally when creating the account.…
The Stored Communications Act (“SCA”), found at 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701-2712, establishes both a criminal offense and a civil cause of action against anyone who “intentionally accesses without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided” or “intentionally exceeds an authorization to access that facility,” and by…
Back in 2012, the Alexandria Circuit Court ruled in an Internet defamation case that discovery could be obtained from a nonresident third party by serving a subpoena on the company’s registered agent in Virginia. That decision was reversed last week by the Virginia Supreme Court in an unambiguous ruling that…
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (commonly known as “RICO“) became effective on October 15, 1970. It was originally intended primarily to assist in the prosecution of mafia leaders, as it permitted them to be tried for crimes they ordered others to do rather than committed themselves. Congress never…
Virginia lacks an anti-SLAPP statute, but that doesn’t mean filing a frivolous lawsuit focused on eliminating criticism rather than enforcing actual legal rights can’t result in being ordered to reimburse the defendant’s legal fees. Some creative plaintiffs, finding themselves the subject of online criticism but not wanting to sue for…
Small businesses often find themselves the target of defamatory online reviews left by anonymous reviewers. In most cases, a subpoena can be issued to the website owner or Internet Service Provider to reveal the poster’s identity (or at least the I.P. address from which the post was written). See, for…
In yet another case involving alleged defamatory Yelp reviews, Hadeed Carpet Cleaning has filed a “John Doe” action in Alexandria Circuit Court, seeking to first learn the identities of the anonymous posters, then recover damages from them. Yelp is based in California but conducts substantial business in Virginia, so Hadeed…