Passwords can be a federal crime in the United States.

Фото: Depositphotos

Three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have made a decision that will impact just about everyone—the court found that sharing your Netflix password is a criminal offense.

This decision was the last round in the US case against David Nosal, the consideration of which lasted almost 10 years, writes Fusion.

Nosal worked as a HR manager at a firm called Korn / Ferry.

In 2004, he left this company, but continued to use the access password from the company database to search for employees for other companies. In 2008, Nosal was sued for this.

In 2011, several more charges were filed against Nosal, some of which were dismissed by the court of the next instance because the employee could not be convicted simply because he had violated the policy of using a working computer.

However, in 2013, Nosal was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

The new decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was made in favor of the state (two judges against one). The judge noted that Nosal used the database, without having the appropriate authorization, without the permission of the company, which, in fact, violated a commercial secret.

Nevertheless, one of the judges said that the case does not concern commercial secrets, but comes down to a simple transfer of a password, which people often do.

“People often share their passwords, even though websites and employers have policies against it. In my view, this decision turns millions of people who engage in this generally harmless password sharing process into unwitting federal criminals,” said Judge Stephen Reinhardt.

He added that the decision of his colleagues does not bear any benefit in the fight against hacking, but it complicates the lives of most people who often exchange passwords in everyday life.

Thus, it is likely that after such a decision, even the transfer of a password from an account to Netflix can turn you into a criminal if the company decides to follow this precedent and make claims to all users who share passwords with their relatives or friends without proper permission. the company.

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