9th Circuit To Hear Oral Argument in 'Facebook v. Power Ventures' Wednesday
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral argument Wednesday in Facebook v. Power Ventures. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has filed several amicus briefs supporting Power Ventures, said in a Monday news release that it will urge…
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the 9th Circuit to dismiss Facebook's claim that Cayman Islands-based Power Ventures violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) when it created a Web-based tool permitting users to log into all of their social media accounts in one place and aggregate messages, friend lists and other data. Facebook sued Power Ventures in 2008 and claimed the company also violated the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (Can-Spam) Act, which prohibits sending unwanted emails with misleading information. In February 2012, U.S. District Judge James Ware in San Francisco granted Facebook’s motion for summary judgment (see 1202210105). In September 2013, Power Ventures was ordered to pay more than $3 million in damages to Facebook. Power Ventures CEO Steven Vachani appealed the ruling. EFF said Legal Fellow Jamie Williams will argue that the 9th Circuit "has already ruled that the CFAA must be interpreted narrowly to avoid transforming what was intended to be an anti-hacking statute into a law that could sweep up innocuous conduct. Criminalizing a routine process like switching IP addresses stifles innovation and harms consumers -- and it’s not what Congress had in mind." Facebook didn't comment Tuesday.