Is illegal password sharing? recent actions of the circuit court 9 have raised slightly incorrect titles claiming that sharing your password is a federal crime. To grossly simplify the case, the abuse and Computer Fraud Act (CFAA) was used against a dismissed employee who accessed a corporate database with a password obtained from a former work colleague . On appeal, the decision of the appellate court reaffirmed the conviction of the former employee, David Nosal, because access to a working database after being fired is illegal, no matter how it is done. Although the decision may, and has been interpreted to prohibit password sharing at the federal level, password sharing is still legal. Unless you live in Tennessee, that is.
Sharing your password is still illegal in Tennessee
The "Tennessee Law Login" makes it a crime to share login information, ie your password for sites such as Netflix and iTunes. The new rule has been added as an update decades old cable television theft laws, in force since July 2011. Not surprisingly, the password sharing of Tennessee law was heavily lobbied for by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The law was written to prosecute pirates who sell Netflix loose connections - a black market industry fringe that has been rocked by Netflix itself. Streaming giant said it is OK to share your account information with members of the immediate family, significant others, roommates - but only if you pay for the service. Even if the service you are using does not specifically disclaims password sharing, the law is still in Tennessee. When the law passed, legislators have recognized that the law could be used beyond its original intent and used to continue sharing simple password. Why, oh why, politicians waste time on these laws?
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