
Jennifer Granick is the Director of Civil Liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Jennifer returns to Stanford after stints as General Counsel of entertainment company Worldstar Hip Hop and as counsel with the internet boutique firm of Zwillgen PLLC. Before that, she was the Civil Liberties Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Jennifer practices, speaks and writes about computer crime and security, electronic surveillance, consumer privacy, data protection, copyright, trademark and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. From 2001 to 2007, Jennifer was Executive Director of CIS and taught Cyberlaw, Computer Crime Law, Internet intermediary liability, and Internet law and policy. Before teaching at Stanford, Jennifer spent almost a decade practicing criminal defense law in California. She was selected by Information Security magazine in 2003 as one of 20 "Women of Vision" in the computer security field. She earned her law degree from University of California, Hastings College of the Law and her undergraduate degree from the New College of the University of South Florida.
High Res Photo of Jennifer Granick
Why Breach of Contract Should Never Be A Crime
By Jennifer Granick • February 15, 2013 at 3:17 pm
In the face of efforts to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), some buinesses have told lawmakers that the CFAA should be used to punish breach of contract where the breacher acted "for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain". Such a proposal does not fix the ability of prosecutors to go after people for disregarding terms of service.
Worse, the idea is unprecedented, dangerous and unacceptable. Read more » about Why Breach of Contract Should Never Be A Crime
Have You Committed the Crime of Outsmarting?
By Jennifer Granick • January 29, 2013 at 4:05 pm
The Hacker Manifesto lauds the world of the electron and the switch, where the talented are treated equally and the values of curiosity and exploration reign supreme. Yet studying computers, network security, and programming flaws can be a crime or civil offense. Just two examples: In Sony v. Hotz (2011), a case that eventually settled, Sony claimed that researchers who studied the way their own game consoles worked violated the CFAA. Read more » about Have You Committed the Crime of Outsmarting?
Thoughts on Orin Kerr's CFAA Reform Proposals: A Great Second Step
By Jennifer Granick • January 23, 2013 at 9:43 pm
Law professor and cybercrime expert Orin Kerr published a proposal to amend the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) to address the overcriminalization that he has been at the forefront of identifying and combatting. His current proposal, which very simply but comprehensively addresses a number of problems with the CFAA, is here.
By focusing purely on whether the service operator implements technological access barriers, the proposal risks a similar problem to the one that the current statute has, giving server owners plenary authority to criminalize the way members of the public interact with information made available online, but through “technological access barriers” rather than merely terms of service and employee agreements. Read more » about Thoughts on Orin Kerr's CFAA Reform Proposals: A Great Second Step
Thoughts on Zoe Lofgren's CFAA Bill: A Great First Step
By Jennifer Granick • January 16, 2013 at 3:41 pm
Yesterday, Representative Zoe Lofgren introduced on Reddit a bill to improve the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in the wake of Aaron Swartz's suicide during the pendency of his prosecution for violating various provisions of that law and of the Wire Fraud Act. I've attached Read more » about Thoughts on Zoe Lofgren's CFAA Bill: A Great First Step
Towards Learning from Losing Aaron Swartz: Part 2
By Jennifer Granick • January 15, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Below is part 2 of the post Towards Learning from Losing Aaron Swartz. Read more » about Towards Learning from Losing Aaron Swartz: Part 2
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Shloss v. Estate of Joyce
After the Estate of James Joyce refused to allow a scholar to quote Joyce in her book, we successfully defended her right under the fair use doctrine to use the quotes she needed to illustrate her scholarship. After we prevailed in the case, the Estate paid $240,000 of our client’s legal fees. Read more » about Shloss v. Estate of Joyce
Kahle v. Gonzales
In this case, two archives challenged statutes that extended copyright terms unconditionally—the Copyright Renewal Act and the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA)—as unconstitutional under Copyright Clause and the First Amendment. Read more » about Kahle v. Gonzales
Towards learning from losing Aaron Swartz
Al Jazeera republished Jennifer Granick's two part blog postTowards learning from losing Aaron Swartz. Read more » about Towards learning from losing Aaron Swartz
Organized Labor Can Protect Workers by Supporting 'Aaron's Law'
Right now, a battle is underway to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a statute that can transform innocuous workplace behavior into a federal crime, simply because a computer is involved. The CFAA is a bludgeon that Big Business and the Department of Justice have willingly used against the American worker, and its time for that to stop. Read more » about Organized Labor Can Protect Workers by Supporting 'Aaron's Law'
Megaupload Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 2
Daily/Journal Op/Ed
The first part of this article outlined the mechanics of the Megaupload website, and the novel questions of criminal inducement on which the government's indictment is premised. Here, we explore two more extensions of existing law on which the indictment is based, and the impact this prosecution is likely to have on Internet innovators and users alike. Read more » about Megaupload Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 2
Megaupload.com Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 1
Days after anti-piracy legislation stalled in Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice coordinated an unprecedented raid on the Hong Kong-based website Megaupload.com. New Zealand law enforcement agents swooped in by helicopter to arrest founder Kim Dotcom at his home outside of Auckland, and seized millions of dollars worth of art, vehicles and real estate. Six other Megaupload employees were also arrested. Meanwhile, the Justice Department seized Megaupload's domain names and the data of at least 50 million users worldwide. Read more » about Megaupload.com Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 1
Shloss v. Estate of Joyce - Amended Complaint
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Megaupload.com Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 1
Is Megaupload "a lot less guilty than you think?"
US entertainment lawyer casts doubt on Megaupload case
Battle Looms Over Website Background Checks
Lecturer Jennifer Granick spoke with Erica E. Phillips of the Daily Journal to discuss website background checks and why the biggest argument for the screening is market-driven.
Sellers and buyers connected for commerce through Craigslist, globetrotters finding a pad on CouchSurfing.com, and perfect strangers meeting for a romantic dinner with the help of Match.com all have one thing in common - they turn Internet connections into face-to-face meetings with unknown consequences. Read more » about Battle Looms Over Website Background Checks
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2013 Stanford University-Peking University Internet Law and Public Policy Conference (Past Event)
This Conference is cordially hosted by Stanford Law School and Peking University, and is sponsored by Tencent, China’s largest Internet company and one of the largest worldwide, and Microsoft, the largest software maker in the world. The main organizers include the China Guiding Cases Project, the Stanford Program in Law, Science, & Technology, the China Law and Policy Association, and the Stanford Law School Programs. Read more » about 2013 Stanford University-Peking University Internet Law and Public Policy Conference
3D Printing: Is the Law Ready for the Future? (Past Event)
Third Annual Internet Law Works-in-Progress Event (Past Event)
Jennifer Granick will be presenting her paper Principles for Regulation of Government Surveillance in the Age of Big Data.
For more information visit: http://law.scu.edu/hightech/2013-internet-law-wip.cfm Read more » about Third Annual Internet Law Works-in-Progress Event
Innovation or Exploitation? (Past Event)
Have you ever borrowed a smartphone without asking? Modified a URL? Scraped a website? Called an undocumented API? Congratulations: you might have violated federal law! A 1986 statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), provides both civil and criminal remedies for mere "unauthorized" access to a computer. Read more » about Innovation or Exploitation?
Swimming in the Ocean of Big Data: National Security in an Age of Unlimited Information (Past Event)
The Journal of National Security Law & Policy and The Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law proudly present "Swimming in the Ocean of Big Data: National Security in an Age of Unlimited Information". Read more » about Swimming in the Ocean of Big Data: National Security in an Age of Unlimited Information
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3D Printing: Is the Law Ready for the Future?
May 16, 2013
Three dimensional printing turns bits into atoms. The technology is simply amazing. These machines draw on programming, art and engineering to enable people to design and build intricate, beautiful, functional jewelry, machine parts, toys and even shoes. In the commercial sector, 3D printing can revolutionize supply chains as well. As the public interest group Public Knowledge wrote once, "It will be awesome if they don't screw it up."
Read more » about 3D Printing: Is the Law Ready for the Future?
Constitution USA with Peter Sagal - Episode II - It’s A Free Country
May 14, 2013
Jennifer Granick appears at 46:44.
Ask Americans what the Constitution’s most important feature is, and most will say it’s the guarantees of liberty enshrined in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution.
Americans are fiercely proud of their freedoms but they continue to argue about what those basic rights are and how they can be sustained in a changing world. Are our rights unchangeable, or should they evolve over time? What is the proper role for the courts in interpreting rights? Read more » about Constitution USA with Peter Sagal - Episode II - It’s A Free Country
Innovation or Exploitation (Video)
February 21, 2013
Have you ever borrowed a smartphone without asking? Modified a URL? Scraped a website? Called an undocumented API? Congratulations: you might have violated federal law! A 1986 statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), provides both civil and criminal remedies for mere "unauthorized" access to a computer. Read more » about Innovation or Exploitation (Video)
Innovation or Exploitation? (Audio)
February 21, 2013
Have you ever borrowed a smartphone without asking? Modified a URL? Scraped a website? Called an undocumented API? Congratulations: you might have violated federal law! A 1986 statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), provides both civil and criminal remedies for mere "unauthorized" access to a computer. Read more » about Innovation or Exploitation? (Audio)
CODE 2600
July 24, 2012
Synopsis: CODE 2600 documents the rise of the Information Technology Age as told through the events and people who helped build and manipulate it. The film explores the impact this new connectivity has on our ability to remain human while maintaining our personal privacy and security. As we struggle to comprehend the wide-spanning socio-technical fallout causd by data collection and social networks, oru modern culture is caught in an undercurrent of cyber-attacks, identity theft and privacy invasion. Read more » about CODE 2600