No Expansion Of CFAA Liability For Monetary Exploit Of Software Bug

In the game Monopoly, lucky players landing on Community Chest might turn over the highly desirable "Bank Error in Your Favor, Collect $200″ card.  By the next turn, the proceeds are usually invested in properties and houses, yet, some might wonder whether accepting such a windfall was proper in the first place...or could lead to criminal charges.

This concept was tested when police arrested two video poker players who were exploiting a software bug that allowed them to multiply jackpots with just a sequence of pushed buttons.  See United States v. Kane, No 11-mj-00001 (D. Nev. filed Jan. 19, 2011).  The defendants were charged with violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ("CFAA"), a federal statute that prohibits computer hacking and unauthorized access into computer networks.  The question was whether the defendants "exceeded authorized access" when they took advantage of an exploit in a video poker machine to win hundreds of thousands of dollars.