Cybertrespass – A Solution in Search of a Problem?
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Steve Hedley
Abstract
The law has been adapted in many ways to make full provision for networked computing and its various social effects. One such adaptation employed by courts in the US has been to develop a tort of cybertrespass, which catches unauthorised electronic intrusions on one computer by another. This article traces the rise and fall of the tort of cybertrespass in the US cases over two decades, and then discusses whether it is a tort that can successfully be transplanted to other common law systems. The conclusion is that cybertrespass is a rather blunt tool, that has some use in cases of gross and deliberate damage, but is not up to the task of determining rights and wrongs in more subtle cases of intrusion.
© 2014 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
