Online trespass to chattels now reaches scenarios far beyond the hacking scenarios, sometimes in farcical ways.

FORBES: The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Is a Failed Experiment

Would the sending of a radio signal to activate this system constitute a trespass to chattels?

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Instead, an online trespass to chattels claim is usually just one of numerous legal violations asserted against the defendant.

FORBES: The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Is a Failed Experiment

Stretching the ancient doctrine of trespass to chattels to apply to Internet activities has been an experiment in law-making.

FORBES: The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Is a Failed Experiment

Three thousand men owned 100 or more, and one Georgia planter boasted 1, 500 human chattels spread over several properties.

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Riffat Hassan, a Pakistani-American, argues that though the Koran treats women with respect, centuries of patriarchy have turned them into chattels.

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Indeed, because legal doctrines already overlap so extensively, we almost never see an online trespass to chattels claim asserted on a standalone basis.

FORBES: The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Is a Failed Experiment

Obviously, these proposals are dramatic, but they are in keeping with my goal of eliminating the legal concept of online trespass to chattels.

FORBES: The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Is a Failed Experiment

But one slave-master, a Tuareg chief called Arissal Ag Amdague, said last year that he would free all 7, 000 of the human chattels that he and his clansmen owned.

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As a result, these proposed changes will end the adverse consequences from the online trespass to chattels experiment while letting chattel owners prevent socially disadvantageous online usage of their chattels.

FORBES: The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Is a Failed Experiment