Miscellaneous federal laws

Miscellaneous federal laws

Under federal law, it is illegal to use any unauthorized access device, including a computer, to obtain money, goods, services, or any other thing of value, or that can be used to initiate a transfer of funds with the intent to defraud.FN70

The Export Administration Act may apply if technology is removed from the US without the appropriate export license.FN71

The federal mail and wire fraud statute prohibits using interstate wire communications or the mails to further a fraudulent scheme to obtain money or property.FN72 This includes use of the mail to bribe an employee into providing trade secrets or a copy of a computer program.FN73

Cumulative Supplement

Cases:

In prosecution of owner of Antigua company for placing sporting bets on behalf of New York customers in violation of statute prohibiting transmission of bets in interstate or foreign commerce, transmissions from customers directing company to place bets from customer accounts in Antigua did not fall within safe harbor for transmissions limited to mere information that assisted in placing of bets, as opposed to including bets themselves, where company accepted bets as matter of course, as long as customers' accounts were in good standing. 18 U.S.C.A. § 1084(b). U.S. v. Cohen, 260 F.3d 68 (2d Cir. 2001); West's Key Number Digest, Gaming 71.

Digital Millenium Copyright Act: Holder of copyright on adult photographs substantially complied with infringement notice requirement of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), where it provided Internet service provider with information that identified two newsgroup sites created for the sole purpose of publishing its copyrighted works, asserted that virtually all the images at the two sites were its copyrighted material, and referred provider to two web addresses where provider could find pictures of its models and obtain copyright information. 17 U.S.C.A. § 512(c)(3). ALS Scan, Inc. v. RemarQ Communities, Inc., 239 F.3d 619 (4th Cir. 2001); West's Key Number Digest, Copyrights and Intellectual Property 50.1(1).

Evidence that e-mails threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction, namely a biological agent and a weapon involving a disease organism, were sent from Texas and were received by government agencies outside of Texas was sufficient to support defendants' convictions for threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction; use of the weapons specified in the threat would have affected interstate commerce. 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 2, 2332a(a)(2), (c)(2)(C). U.S. v. Wise, 221 F.3d 140 (5th Cir. 2000); West's Key Number Digest, Extortion and Threats 32.

In calculating damage resulting from ex-employee's unauthorized access to employer's computers and deletion of employer's entire billing system and internal databases, for purpose of determining whether ex-employee had caused at least $5,000.00 in damage as required by statute under which he was prosecuted, district court could compute "damage" based upon salaries paid to, and hours worked by, in-house employees who corrected problem, notwithstanding that these employees were paid fixed salary, and that there was no evidence that hours spent by these employees in responding to ex-employee's actions diverted them from their other responsibilities. 18 U.S.C.A. § 1030. U.S. v. Middleton, 231 F.3d 1207 (9th Cir. 2000); West's Key Number Digest, Malicious Mischief 1.

Gamblers failed to allege a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) enterprise consisting of internet gambling casinos and defendant credit card companies and issuing banks which facilitated internet gambling by providing a means to obtain virtual cash to use at internet casinos; while gamblers established existence of association in fact separate and apart from the pattern of racketeering, the very nature of the business alleged by gamblers required a finding that there was no ongoing organization or hierarchical or consensual decision making structure among the internet casinos, the credit card companies and the issuing banks. 18 U.S.C.A. § 1961(4). In re MasterCard Intern. Inc., Internet Gambling Litigation, 132 F. Supp. 2d 468 (E.D. La. 2001); West's Key Number Digest, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations 73.