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piltdownman • today at 3:41 PM • 1 reply • view on HN

The problem is unintentional DOS due to traffic can constitute a felony under the CFAA; the case in question being Pulte Homes, Inc. v. Laborers' International Union 2011.

After Pulte fired an employee represented by the union, LIUNA urged members to call and send email to the company, expressing their opinions. As a result of the increased traffic, the company's email system crashed. The Sixth Circuit ruled that the LIUNA's instruction to call and email "intentionally caused damage," reversing the lower court's decision.

Now thankfully we have Sandvig v. Barr, 2020 where the DC Federal Court ruled that the CFAA does not criminalize the violation of a website's terms of service, but imo all bets are off in terms of interpretation of the law in the wild west of AI.


Replies

hedora • today at 3:49 PM

I was not aware of that (terrible) court decision. Wow.

I suppose this is one of those laws that doesn't apply if an individual is a victim? I have a email box that sometimes fills with spam and rejects legitimate email. Can I get the corporations that filled it up to be charged with felonies?

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