Aaron's Law Act of 2015

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for clarification as to the meaning of access without authorization, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Aaron's Law Act of 2015 2. Clarifying that access without authorization (a) In general Section 1030(e)(6) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by— (1) striking exceeds authorized access (2) inserting the following: “‘access without authorization’ means— (A) to obtain information on a protected computer; (B) that the accesser lacks authorization to obtain; and (C) by knowingly circumventing one or more technological or physical measures that are designed to exclude or prevent unauthorized individuals from obtaining that information; . (b) Conforming amendment Section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (d)(10), by striking unauthorized access, or exceeding authorized access, to a access without authorization of a protected (2) by striking exceeds authorized access 3. Eliminating redundancy (a) Repeal Section 1030(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) by striking paragraph (4); and (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively. (b) Conforming amendments Section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (c)— (A) in paragraph (2), by striking (a)(6) (a)(5) (B) in paragraph (3)— (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking subsection (a)(4) or (a)(7) subsection (a)(6) (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking subsection (a)(4), or (a)(7) subsection (a)(6) (C) in paragraph (4)— (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking subsection (a)(5)(B) subsection (a)(4)(B) (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking subsection (a)(5)(A) subsection (a)(4)(A) (iii) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking subsection (a)(5) subsection (a)(4) (iv) in subparagraph (D)(i), by striking subsection (a)(5)(C) subsection (a)(4)(C) (v) in subparagraph (E), by striking subsection (a)(5)(A) subsection (a)(4)(A) (vi) in subparagraph (F), by striking subsection (a)(5)(A) subsection (a)(4)(A) (vii) in subparagraph (G)(i), by striking subsection (a)(5) subsection (a)(4) (2) in subsection (h), by striking subsection (a)(5) subsection (a)(4) 4. Making penalties proportional to crimes (a) Section 1030(c)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subparagraph (A)— (A) by striking conviction for another subsequent (B) by inserting such attempt to commit (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting after financial gain and the fair market value of the information obtained exceeds $5,000 (3) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking the offense was committed the offense was committed in furtherance of any criminal act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of any State punishable by a term of imprisonment greater than one year, unless such criminal acts are prohibited by this section or such State violation would be based solely on accessing information without authorization; (4) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by inserting fair market value (5) in subparagraph (C)— (A) by striking conviction for another subsequent (B) by inserting such attempt to commit

Summary: Aaron's Law Act of 2015 Amends provisions of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) prohibiting computer fraud to replace the phrase "exceeds authorized access" with "access without authorization," which is defined as obtaining information on a protected computer that the accesser lacks authorization to obtain by knowingly circumventing one or more technological or physical measures that are designed to exclude or prevent unauthorized individuals from obtaining that information. Modifies CFAA penalty provisions to: (1) limit the imposition of enhanced penalties to subsequent offenses under such Act (currently, additional penalties are allowed if there is a conviction for another offense) and to criminal acts punishable under federal or state law by a term of imprisonment for more than one year; and (2) require the determination of the value of information for enhanced penalty purposes to be made by reference to fair market value.