Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Congress Decides To Not Make Online Mistruths A Felony Crime

By Cornelius Nunev


The so-called "Facebook Felony" law that was considered in Congress before September 14th was, in several ways, concerning. George Washington University regulation teacher Orin Kerr specified the possible consequences in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. The felony provision has been changed out of the bill. However, Congress is still contemplating a cyber-security bill.

What is a Facebook Felony

As teacher Kerr pointed out, strengthening of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, first written in 1986, would have made any lie on the internet a felony. This regulation would have been in impact on all websites and with all services on the internet. This means that creating an account with a phony name, lying about your age, or even putting a phony weight on a dating profile could all count as felonies. The change to the regulation is meant, however, to target hackers that challenge the security of important computer networks.

Amendment protects individuals

The update to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is considered an amendment by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee after suggestions for individuals such as Kerr. The amendment specifically exempts "access in violation of a contractual obligation or agreement, such as an acceptable use policy or terms of service agreement, with an Internet service provider, Internet site, or non-government employer, if such violation constitutes the sole cause for determining that access to a guarded computer is unauthorized." During the amendment debate, there were several examples brought up by Al Franken and Chuck Grassley. These amendments were things that shouldn't be a felony even if they are not the most ethical choices. It shouldn't be a felony to create anonymous accounts on websites such as FourSquare to add good business reviews of your business. It is surely unethical though. There were times when cyber securities statues were used. These were used in extreme cases to get bullies prosecuted.

What to look at out for

Congress might choose to do nothing with cyber security. Still, increasingly more individuals are concerned about on the internet identity and security. In 2009, the Justice Department prosecuted a female for creating a phony profile on MySpace. Last year, a computerized program that bought tickets on TicketMaster led to criminal charges for an individual. Several of these laws preventing unauthorized access could be used in civil cases as well as criminal. When on a site, you must follow the terms. It is a very important thing to do. When lying about age and other things on dating online websites, you most likely will not get prosecuted. Still, you need to always know the rules of what you are getting into.




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