In response to the economic crisis, companies have downsized, resulting in some terminated employees stealing vital data to improve their job opportunities with a new employer. In addition to traditional state remedies such as misappropriation of trade secrets, employers have been “increasingly taking advantage of…[the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act's] civil remedies to sue former employees and their new companies who seek a competitive edge through wrongful use of information from the former employer’s computer system.” Pacific Aerospace & Electronics Inc. v. Taylor, 295 F. Supp. 2d 1188, 1196 (E.D. Wash. 2003).
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a federal criminal statute outlawing the theft of data, permits a company that “suffers damage or loss” by reason of a violation of the CFAA, to “maintain a civil action against the violator” for damages and injunctive relief. 18 U.S.C. 1030(g). Since Taylor, there has developed a body of district court opinions that refuse to apply the CFAA against employees who steal their employer’s data. This article will explain why these opinions are not likely to survive appellate review; it will also provide a strategy to avoid the application of these decisions.
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