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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

GA SB 315 (LC 29 8107S) (PDF) just passed the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee and will be voted on this week. While significantly improved through the committee process, it still creates a dangerously broad definition of Criminal Unauthorized Computer Access that is so sweeping, people will need permission before visiting any website.

This bill was drafted because Georgia law enforcement and the U.S. FBI could not find any law broken by a professional security researcher. This researcher tried to alert Georgia election officials of voter data inappropriately published publicly on the Internet by Kennesaw State University, a contractor for the Georgia Secretary of State's Office. What he discovered through ordinary Google searching was that voters' names, addresses, and other private information was indexed by Google and accessible by anyone. After months, he and another researcher discovered that the data was still available on the public Internet and brought it to the attention of the media. Only under the daylight of public attention was the data removed from the Internet in an embarrassing scandal.

We must protect the status quo at all costs! /s

Source: https://rietta.com/blog/2018/03/26/georgia-sb-315-anti-hacking-bill/

From IEEE Spectrum:

SB315 as currently written states that any person who accesses a computer or computer network with knowledge that such access is without authority (such as unauthorized password disclosure) will be guilty of the crime of unauthorized computer access. Exceptions are for parents of children under the age of 18 or for persons conducting legitimate business activity. The penalty for a conviction is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated manner, which can net a person a US $5,000 fine and a year in jail.

Original Submission