Luckily for all of us, Senators Al Franken, (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have introduced introduced legislation to narrow the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or the CFAA, which was enacted primarily to prosecute malicious hacking, such as identity theft and bank larceny done via computers. Lately, there has been discussion by lawmakers about all sorts of things that are done online every day by innocent computer users, such as using an online moniker that is not one's actual name on a social networking website or checking one's email at work on an employer's computer. Even more shocking is the idea that using a nickname on Facebook can even be construed as a felony! A couple of cases wherein defendants have been charged and prosecuted have involved violations of the Terms Of Service agreements for various networks......but while it is understandable that a network can reserve the right to delete the account of an errant user, how is this defined, by law, as a crime, particularly a felony? The other widely committed act that is done by many, many people is the act of using a workplace computer for unauthorized purposes, such as checking one's email or surfing social media sites. It seems like a boss should have the option to reserve the right to terminate an employee who sits on Facebook or Google Plus all day, but should the employee go to jail, after being prosecuted under CFAA, and have a felony record over using an online moniker other than a legal name?
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