EFF Celebrates Demise of RI Computer Crimes Bill
The Electronic Frontier Foundation rejoiced Thursday as a computer-crimes bill stalled in the Rhode Island state legislature. H-7406 would have prohibited unauthorized access to someone else’s computer, computer system or network with intent to view, save or copy confidential information.…
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But EFF and other internet freedom advocates opposed the bill, which they said is too vague, unnecessarily duplicates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and could have penalized innocent activity by researchers and whistleblowers (see 1606100056). The House put the measure on the calendar for a floor vote this month but postponed consideration multiple times until the bill disappeared from the list altogether. “This is good news,” Senior Staff Attorney Adam Schwartz said on the EFF blog. “But the struggle continues against other vague and overbroad computer crime laws.”