CSL Cybercrime & Legal Frameworks 2 â Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Stored Communications Act (SCA), which entity is generally prohibited from voluntarily disclosing the contents of stored electronic communications to the government?
- Electronic communication service providers (Correct answer)
- Law enforcement agencies
- Federal courts
- End users
Correct answer: Electronic communication service providers
The SCA restricts electronic communication service providers from voluntarily disclosing stored message contents to government entities without legal process.
Question 2: Which international treaty, opened for signature in 2001, is the first binding international instrument specifically addressing cybercrime?
- Budapest Convention on Cybercrime (Correct answer)
- UN Convention Against Cybercrime
- Tallinn Manual
- UNCITRAL Model Law
Correct answer: Budapest Convention on Cybercrime
The Budapest Convention (Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime) is the first and most widely adopted binding international treaty on cybercrime.
Question 3: A defendant charged under the CFAA argues that accessing a password-protected employer database with valid credentialsâbut for unauthorized purposesâdoes not violate the statute. Which 2021 Supreme Court case addressed this 'exceeds authorized access' question?
- Van Buren v. United States (Correct answer)
- United States v. Nosal
- United States v. Drew
- Reno v. ACLU
Correct answer: Van Buren v. United States
Van Buren v. United States (2021) held that the 'exceeds authorized access' clause covers only those who obtain information from areas of a computer they are not permitted to access, not those who misuse legitimately accessible data.
Question 4: Which federal law specifically criminalizes identity theft and requires a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence for using another person's means of identification during a felony?
- Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act
- 18 U.S.C. § 1028A (Aggravated Identity Theft) (Correct answer)
- Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act
- CAN-SPAM Act
Correct answer: 18 U.S.C. § 1028A (Aggravated Identity Theft)
18 U.S.C. § 1028A imposes a mandatory two-year sentence, served consecutively, for knowingly using another person's means of identification during a felony.
Question 5: Under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), a real-time wiretap of an electronic communication requires which legal standard?
- A subpoena issued by any federal attorney
- A court order based on probable cause (Title III order) (Correct answer)
- A national security letter signed by an FBI director
- A simple administrative subpoena
Correct answer: A court order based on probable cause (Title III order)
Real-time interception of electronic communications under ECPA Title III requires a court order supported by probable cause, known as a 'super warrant.'
Question 6: Which doctrine allows U.S. courts to exercise jurisdiction over foreign cybercrime defendants whose conduct, though committed abroad, produced harmful effects within the United States?
- Passive personality principle
- Effects doctrine (Correct answer)
- Protective principle
- Universality principle
Correct answer: Effects doctrine
The effects doctrine grants jurisdiction when an act committed outside U.S. borders causes direct, foreseeable harm within the United States.
Question 7: State-level cybercrime laws that go beyond federal statutes are permissible as long as they do not conflict with federal law. Which constitutional principle governs this relationship?
- Commerce Clause preemption
- Supremacy Clause and federal preemption (Correct answer)
- Equal Protection doctrine
- Dormant Commerce Clause
Correct answer: Supremacy Clause and federal preemption
The Supremacy Clause means that federal law preempts conflicting state law, but states may enact broader cybercrime protections where Congress has not occupied the field.
CSL Cybercrime & Legal Frameworks 2
Under the Stored Communications Act (SCA), which entity is generally prohibited from voluntarily disclosing the contents of stored electronic communications to the government?