Password Sharing Is a Federal Crime, Appeals Court Rules

[frankberry]

One of the nation’s most powerful appeals courts ruled Wednesday that sharing passwords can be a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a catch-all “hacking” law that has been widely used to prosecute behavior that bears no resemblance to hacking.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/password-sharing-is-a-federal-crime

 

[landtuna]

Someone is not seeing the big picture here. Sharing a password is at the behest of the password owner but if sharing the password enables a non-authorized person to access a site or service then it is theft, pure and simple.

Example: I have several email accounts and share my passwords with my wife. This is not a problem because by giving her my passwords I am also authorizing her to use whatever service or site is at the other end in my name. No harm. No foul. However, if I give my next door neighbor my Netflix password I am enabling them to steal a streaming service. Should they do so it is both a crime for me and them. Note that in the Netflix case I would have to also provide my login ID so it isn't just the password at issue here.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Once again, the judiciary is usurping the role of the legislative branch.

If there is good reason to make the sharing of passwords a criminal offense Congress should
debate it and then pass a law. Instead we have a judge creating a new crime out of whole cloth.