Nasty Flood of Phone Calls and E-Mails Gives Rise to Computer Fraud Damage Claim – 6th Cir.

In Pulte Homes International Union of North America, 648 F.3d 295 (6th Cir. 2011), the Sixth Circuit addressed the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) in a case where a national labor union launched a barrage of  harassing telephone calls and e-mails against a Michigan home builder that fired a union member. The plaintiff home sued the union under the …

Does the Computer Fraud Act Apply to ‘Dumbphones’?

While this Court does not disagree that unwanted text messages, like spam e-mail, are an annoyance, whether receipts of such messages can establish a civil action under the CFAA is, of course, a different question. Czech v. Wall Street on Demand, Inc. 674 F.Supp. 1102, 1106 (N.D.Minn. 2009). Anti-spam (e-mail and text) lawsuits and legislation are legion: a flurry …

Can a LinkedIn Account Be Stolen (or Converted)?

Earlier I discussed the three claims on which plaintiff prevailed at trial (albeit with no damages) against her former employer, Edcomm.  For symmetry’s sake, I now summarize the five state law claims which defendant won.  These claims are (1) identity theft, (2) conversion, (3) tortious interference with contract, (4) civil conspiracy, and (5) civil aiding and abetting.  In analyzing these …