Supreme Court of California

Under California law, the tort of trespass to chattels does not encompass, and should not be extended to encompass, an electronic communication that neither damages the recipient computer system nor impairs its functioning.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/30/2003
• Published 06/30/2003

Judges

• WERDEGAR, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
•  Philip H. Weber, Placerville;  Dechert, William M. McSwain, Richard L. Berkman, F. Gregory Lastowka;  Levy, Ram & Olson, Karl Olson, San Francisco, and Erica L. Craven for Defendant and Appellant., Mark A. Lemley and Deirdre K. Mulligan for Professors of Intellectual Property and Computer Law as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Lee Tien and Deborah Pierce for Electronic Frontier Foundation as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Jennifer Stisa Granick, San Francisco, for the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Ann Brick and Christopher A. Hansen for American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, Inc., and American Civil Liberties Union Foundation as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Robert M. O'Neil and J. Joshua Wheeler for The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant.,  Atshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Rubin & Demain, Stephen P. Berzon, Scott A. Kronland, San Francisco, and Stacey M. Leyton for the Service Employees International Union, AFL CIO as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Morrison & Foerster, Linda E. Shostak, Michael A. Jacobs, San Francisco, Kurt E. Springmann and Paul A. Friedman, San Francisco, for Plaintiff and Respondent., Steptoe & Johnson, Stewart A. Baker and W. Chelsea Chen for the U.S. Internet Service Provider Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent., Richard A. Epstein for California Employment Law Council, California Manufacturers & Technology Association, eBay, Inc., Information Technology Industry Council, National Association of Manufacturers, Semiconductor Industry Association and Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent., Fred J. Hiestand, Sacramento, for the Civil Justice Association of California as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent., Proskauer Rose, Mark Theodore, Arthur F. Silbergeld, Niloofar Nejat Bina and Adam C. Abrahms, Los Angeles, for Labor Policy Association, Inc., United States Chamber of Commerce and California Chamber of Commerce as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.