Technically Legal

In Podcast 8 we analyzed the legal implications of Amazon deleting copies of 1984 from users’ Kindles. Earlier this week, in podcast 10, we mentioned that a student, who had his notes about 1984 deleted along with the book itself, had sued Amazon.

The student, Justin Gawronski, is bringing the case as a class action. This means that his lawyers hope to represent all the people who’ve purchased the Kindle edition of 1984. They also seek to represent all people who’ve ever purchased a Kindle, Kindle 2, or Kindle DX, on the grounds that a court should prevent Amazon from ever deleting data off the Kindle again.

In addition to raising all the claims we mentioned on the podcast, the plaintiff also made a claim under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

The CFAA has been used in everything from felony prosecution for violating the MySpace Terms of Service to trying to get a court to restrain college students from giving presentations.

The complaint alleges that Amazon violated sections (a)(5)(A)(i) and (a)(5)(A)(iii), which state:

• Whoever
1. knowingly causes the transmission of a program, information, code, or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causes damage without authorization, to a protected computer;
2. . . .
3. intentionally accesses a protected computer without authorization, and as a result of such conduct, causes damage;

Section (a)(5)(B) of the CFAA says that, to actually recover damages, a plaintiff also has to prove that one of the actions above caused, either:

1. $5000 worth of loss to 1 or more people during a 1-year period
2. modification or impairment of medical examination, diagnosis, treatment or care of 1 or more people,
3. physical injury,
4. a threat to public safety, or
5. damage affecting a computer system used by or for a government entity in furtherance of the administration of justice, national defense, or national security.

In this case, the plaintiff alleges that Amazon’s actions caused at least $5000 worth of loss to the people who had 1984 deleted off of their devices. The CFA defines “loss” broadly: “any reasonable cost to any victim, including the cost of responding to an offense, conducting a damage assessment, and restoring the data, program, system, or information to its condition prior to the offense, and any revenue lost, cost incurred, or other consequential damages incurred because of interruption of service.” So, the loss isn’t simply limited to the money that people paid for the book, which Amazon has already refunded. Instead, loss could also include any costs incurred by plaintiffs trying to repair the problem or recover the data.

We’ll keep you updated as this case progresses.

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