Reddit AMA focuses on CFAA reform and CISPA

Cyber legislation has been a hot topic lately. At the center of the discussion are reforms to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C § 1030, and the pending House proposal related to cybersecurity, H.R 624: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. Recently, a group of scholars, not-for-profit organizations, and Internet activists hosted two “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) events on Reddit to inform users of the CFAA and CISPA.

The CFAA AMA, which occurred on April 9th, included questions concerning some of the substantive provisions of the CFAA, a recent “discussion draft” of the CFAA making its way around Congress, and some recent high profile CFAA cases. The group conducting the AMA included:

• Orin Kerr, Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor of Law at George Washington University
• Mark Jaycox, Policy Analyst and Legislative Assistant at Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Cindy Cohn, Legal Director at Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Trevor Timm, Activist and Blogger at Electronic Frontier Foundation
• David Segal, Executive Director at Demand Progress
• Josh Levy, Internet Campaign Director at Free Press
• Tiffiniy Cheng, Co-Founder of Fight for the Future
• Jennifer Granick, Director of Civil Liberties at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society
• Ryan Radia, Associate Director of Technology Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and
• Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web inventor

Additionally, a CISPA AMA, hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, occurred on April 8th. The AMA included questions concerning the current status of CISPA, the difference between CISPA and 2011’s H.R. 3261 Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and the effect CISPA could have if adopted. The group conducting the AMA included:

• Michelle Richardson, Legislative Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union 
• Mark Jaycox, Policy Analyst and Legislative Assistant at Electronic Frontier Foundation 
• Trevor Timm, Activist and Blogger at Electronic Frontier Foundation 
• Adi Kamdar, Activist at Electronic Frontier Foundation, and
• Rainey Reitman, Activism Director at Electronic Frontier Foundation

While both are worth a look, I recommend paying particular attention to the answers provided by Professor Kerr in the CFAA AMA. Professor Kerr has written extensively on the CFAA and has developed a reputation as being one of the foremost experts on the statute.