Technical-Legal Confluence News

The main act used to prosecute misrepresentation on the Internet is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, originally passed in 1986, last amended by the Patriot Act in 2001.

The law is USC 1030 and the Cornell Law School reference is here.

The law was intended to prevent computer hacking and unauthorized use of classified information. It has recently attracted attention because it is being used in the Megan Meier Myspace case in Missouri, where a federal prosecution was launched in Los Angeles with an indictment based on this statute, where a woman had impersonated a teenager.

The PRO IP act (HR 4297) has the full title “Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007,” introduced by John Conyers (D-MI), with 19 cosponsors.

The govtrack reference is this.

The Executive Summary from the CRS is this It would create and Intellectual Property Czar, or a Executive Office of the President the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative. It also provides some safe harbor for copyright registration with inaccurate information, prevents inappropriate disclosure of records related to copyright infringement, and prohibits importing and exporting of infringing works.

The full text link is this.

Coordinated with this bill is “H.R. 5889: To provide a limitation on judicial remedies in copyright infringement cases involving orphan works,” govtrack reference link here. The bill would permit the use of “orpaned” works without permission when the copyright holder could not be found, but allow compensation later should the owner step forward. The text of the bill is here.