Next time we want to save a tv show, we may have to come up with a new way to do it other than bombarding the network’s in-boxes with messages of support.
That’s because a new ruling has equated sending massive e-mail protests to hacking.
In a case involving a union protest against an employer, a federal appeals court has ruled that sending a large volume of emails is equal to hacking and violates a U.S. law targeting computer fraud and abuse, according to the blog Techdirt.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a district court Aug. 2, deciding that Pulte Homes can sue the Laborers’ International Union of North America because the union asked its members to e-mail and call Pulte many times to protest certain company actions. The appeals court concluded “that a transmission that weakens a sound computer system — or, similarly, one that diminishes a plaintiff’s ability to use data or a system — causes damage,” and therefore violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
The court said the protest “overloaded Pulte’s system, which limits the number of e-mails in an inbox; and this, in turn, stalled normal business operations because Pulte’s employees could not access business-related e-mails or send e-mails to customers and vendors.”
*sigh*