Legal Issues

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick




Do You Mean To Say That Phishing Was Legal Prior To Friday?

from the just-curious dept

There's plenty of press coverage this weekend over the fact that California now has a law that makes phishing illegal. While many are wondering whether or not this will actually help at all (no, it won't), a much more important question is: was phishing actually legal in California before this? Chances are the answer is no, but this new law just is more specific about the particular crime, rather than lumping it in with other types of fraud. Of course, that should help give you the answer to the first question as well. If existing fraud laws were doing very little, it's unlikely that this new anti-phishing law will do much either. Still, this is the type of law that politicians love. It shows them coming out against something "bad," even if it was already illegal and the new law won't help to fix anything.

3 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

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  1. Oct 2nd, 2005 @ 10:12pm

    Will they..

    by Luke

    put anymore effort into catching these guys or gals so they will get caught? Or is just only saying that if they catch them there will be harsher penalities.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. Oct 2nd, 2005 @ 11:39pm

    illegal Phishing

    Does this mean I can go after someone on my own, and get a $500,000 judgment on them?

    Sure, may be hard to collect, but it's the principle of the thing. I'll go get my net.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Oct 3rd, 2005 @ 6:07am

    Not just politics

    by Ryan Elisei

    I think the other side of the coin here is that now lawyers have a better tool to go after phishers with. They don't have to interpret obscure wording from antiquated laws. This helps the system heal itself more easily by reducing extra time and legal costs.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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