The Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (CFAA), a federal statute, recognizes private causes of action for individuals damaged by computer fraud. From the “plain meaning” of the words Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, one might not think that the law would apply to the admittedly annoying situation of receipt of unwanted SMS texts on one’s phone…
Plaintiff had to stretch to make an argument to meet the minimum $5,000 in damages threshold (the Court allowed for aggregation of class members’ alleged damages), had to stretch to argue that the defendant “accessed her information” by sending the text, and had to stretch to argue that the text “damaged” her cell phone.
Judge Frank did not buy it. He gave Plaintiff leave to amend her complaint to address the infirmities but also expressed his “serious doubts concerning the viability” of Plaintiff’s claim under the CFAA.