Stanford CIS

Innovation or Exploitation (Video)

By Jennifer Granick on

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.

This event aimed to provide a geek perspective on the CFAA. Leading researchers, tinkerers, and entrepreneurs explained the broad reach of computer trespass law and their first-hand experience with its chilling effects. All agree that serious intrusions warrant a remedy. But how can the law better distinguish between innovation and exploitation?Speakers:

Ed Felten, Princeton UniversityJennifer Granick, Stanford UniversityBrewster Kahle, Internet ArchiveJonathan Mayer, Stanford UniversityAlex Stamos, Artemis InternetDan Auerbach, Electronic Frontier Foundation  This event was co-hosted by CIS, CISAC, and CITP.

Download audio of the Innovation or Exploitation talk.