Technology Laws You Should Know About
Some of us can agree that our accounts or passwords have been hacked at least once or even have suffered from identity theft. For educational purposes i have summarized eighteen U.S. laws that affect technology and society today many of which you should be familiar with.
18 USC 1030 - Computer Fraud and Abuse (1954) Prohits gaining intentional access to protected information without authorization. “Protected computers” are covered includes any computer used in interstate or foreign commerce. Damages must exceed $ 5,000.
18 USC 1029 - Credit Card Fraud - Charges an individual with a federal crime. Crime to possess 15 or more counterfeit credit cards does not have to exceed $ 5,000 in damage. Attack on computer to gain access to large number of credit card numbers which he has no authorization is a violation of statute.
18 USC 2511 - Wiretap statute Interception - Outlaws the interception of telephone calls and other types of electronic communication and prevents police from using wiretaps without a warrant. Placing a “sniffer” violates the statute.
18 USC 2701 - Access to Electronic Information - Prohibits unlawful access to stored communications, but also prohibits preventing authorized users from accessing systems that store electronic communications. Owner of the service may access any file on the system. If an organization Is providing communications service any file can be accessed by authorized employees.
U.S. Patriot Act - Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (10/26/01) - Introduced after sep 11 attacks. President George W. Bush. Modified wording to US Code 1030, US Code 3127- law enforcement gain information from devices in addition to telephones & obtain trap and trace orders for devices in other districts. US Code 2511 and 2701-computer trespass exception and provide the cable act fix.
Homeland Security - (11/25/02) -The primary mission of the Department is to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism, minimize the damage, and assist in the recovery, from terrorist attacks that do occur within the United States. Introduced after the september 11 attacks by President George W. Bush.
SOX - “Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act” or “Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act” OR Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (07/30/2002) Set after september 11 attacks by President George W. Bush. set new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company boards, management and public accounting firms.
FERPA - “Buckley Amendment” - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (08/21/1974) Protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (08/21/1996) Created after the september 11 attacks. Responsibility for creating and enforcing the standards for the protection of health information under the dept of health and human services. Standardization of patient health info., unique identifiers for individuals, security standards for protecting confidentiality and integrity.
AHRA - Audio Home Recording Act (10/28/1992) The act enabled the release of recordable digital formats such as Sony and Philips’ Digital Audio Tape without fear of contributory infringement lawsuit.
DMCA - Digital Millennium Copyright Act (10/28/1998) It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to copyrighted works. President Bill Clinton18 USC 2319 - Copyrights - Defines the criminal punishments for copyright violations where an individual is found to be reproducing or distributing copyrighted material where at least 10 copies have been made of 1 or more works.
COPPA - Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 - Websites that are collecting information from children under the age of thirteen are required to comply with Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ).
CANSPAM - Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act (11/25/2003) - establishes the United States’ first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions.
CALEA - Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (1994)an act by the US Congress to facilitate wiretapping of U.S. domestic telephone and Internet traffic.
NET- No Electronic Theft (1997) Criminal prosecution of individuals who engage in copyright infringement
CPA - Communications Privacy Act (10/21/1986) Extend government restrictions on wire taps to include electronic data by computer.
GLB - Graham-Leach-Biley Financial Services Modernization Act (GLBA) (11/12/1999) Protects private information of customers. Prohibits financial organization from disclosing a customer’s private info unless the org has disclosed that this may occur and given a customer the chance to opt of the disclosure.

