“Critics of the current law, called the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), say it is far too vague and led to the overzealous prosecution of Swartz after he accessed an MIT database containing academic research papers, many of which were created with public funding. Aaron’s Law would also cut back on redundant penalties in the current CFAA that can see some offenders punished twice for the same crime. The bill also seeks to address a flaw in the current law that makes ‘unauthorized access’ of any kind a felony, whereas something as simple as lying about one’s age to Facebook could be considered unauthorized access.”
