Law¶

Court cases and statutes that establish precedent protecting software rights, code as speech, privacy, and internet freedom.

For doctrine explanations and case-study topic pages (TOPIC-*), see Topics.

Landmark Cases: Code as Speech¶

These cases establish that source code is constitutionally protected expression under the First Amendment.

CASE-BERNSTEIN-V-DOJ: Bernstein v. DOJ (9th Cir. 1999) — source code is protected speech; export restrictions on cryptography are an unconstitutional prior restraint.
CASE-JUNGER-V-DALEY: Junger v. Daley (6th Cir. 2000) — source code is protected by the First Amendment because of its expressiveness.
CASE-UNIVERSAL-V-CORLEY: Universal City Studios v. Corley (2d Cir. 2001) — code is speech but DMCA anti-circumvention survives intermediate scrutiny.

These cases protect internet access and online speech as constitutionally important.

CASE-RENO-V-ACLU: Reno v. ACLU (1997) — struck down CDA provisions restricting internet speech as overbroad First Amendment violations.
CASE-PACKINGHAM-V-NC: Packingham v. North Carolina (2017) — internet access is constitutionally protected; government cannot broadly restrict access to online platforms.

These cases establish privacy protections in the digital context.

CASE-CARPENTER-V-US: Carpenter v. United States (2018) — acquisition of cell-site location records is a Fourth Amendment search requiring a warrant.
CASE-CHATRIE-V-US: Chatrie v. United States (2026) — acquiring Google Location History via a geofence warrant process is a Fourth Amendment search; warrant particularity/probable cause left for remand.

CASE-VAN-BUREN-V-US: Van Buren v. United States (2021) — narrowed CFAA "exceeds authorized access" to a gates-up-or-down inquiry, rejecting criminalization of policy-violating use.
CASE-PERFECT10-V-CCBILL: Perfect 10 v. CCBill — safe harbor and intermediary liability.

CASE-LENZ-V-UNIVERSAL: Lenz v. Universal — fair use consideration before DMCA takedown notices.
CASE-GOOGLE-V-ORACLE: Google v. Oracle — fair use of Java API declaring code in Android.

CASE-VAN-LOON-V-TREASURY: Van Loon v. Treasury (5th Cir. 2024) — Tornado Cash immutable smart contracts are not IEEPA “property.”
CASE-COIN-CENTER-V-YELLEN: Coin Center v. Yellen (N.D. Fla. 2023) — district-court summary judgment upholding OFAC’s Tornado Cash designation (later mooted after delisting).
CASE-US-V-STORM: United States v. Storm — SDNY prosecution of a Tornado Cash co-founder.
CASE-NL-V-PERTSEV: Netherlands v. Pertsev — Dutch money-laundering conviction related to Tornado Cash.
CASE-US-V-RODRIGUEZ: United States v. Rodriguez — Samourai Wallet co-founders’ guilty pleas and prison sentences for conspiracy to operate a money transmitting business knowing it transmitted crime proceeds.

CASE-US-V-SKLYAROV: United States v. Sklyarov / Elcomsoft — first DMCA criminal indictment of a programmer for ebook circumvention software; deferred prosecution of Sklyarov.
CASE-UNIVERSAL-V-CORLEY: Universal City Studios v. Corley (listed above under Code as Speech) — civil DMCA injunction against DeCSS distribution.

CASE-US-V-TUNICK: United States v. Tunick (N.D. Ga., pending) — § 2232(a) prosecution alleging deletion of Google Pixel digital contents during a January 2025 Atlanta airport CBP secondary inspection; public reporting links the wipe to GrapheneOS duress credentials.

CASE-CCIA-V-PAXTON-SB2420: CCIA v. Paxton (W.D. Tex. / 5th Cir., pending merits) — challenge to Texas SB 2420; PI granted Dec. 2025, stayed on appeal June 2026; SCOTUS denied emergency vacatur; law enforceable pending appeal.

STAT-USC-107: 17 U.S.C. § 107 — fair use limitation on exclusive copyright rights.
STAT-DMCA-512: 17 U.S.C. § 512 — DMCA safe harbor for online service providers.
STAT-CFAA-1030: 18 U.S.C. § 1030 — Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
STAT-18-USC-2232: 18 U.S.C. § 2232 — destruction or removal of property to prevent seizure.
STAT-SECTION-230: 47 U.S.C. § 230 — intermediary liability protections for online platforms.
STAT-IEEPA: IEEPA (50 U.S.C. §§ 1701–1708) — emergency economic powers used for OFAC blocking programs.
STAT-CA-DIGITAL-AGE-ASSURANCE-ACT: California Digital Age Assurance Act (Civ. Code §§ 1798.500–1798.505) — OS age-bracket signals to apps; operative January 1, 2027.
STAT-TX-APP-STORE-ACCOUNTABILITY: Texas App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420 / Bus. & Com. Code ch. 121) — app-store age verification and parental consent; effective January 1, 2026.

Concept and inventory pages live on the Topics browse page, including App Store and Operating System Age-Verification Laws, Documented Proceedings Involving Software Authors and Operators, Tornado Cash, First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, code as speech, fair use and video, DMCA takedown response, safe harbor, intermediary liability, and computer fraud. Related historical events include the Zimmermann / PGP investigation, the OFAC Blender.io designation, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 legislative override, and the 2026 FSB charges against Pavel Durov / Telegram.

These cases and statutes form the legal foundation for software companies to:

Publish and distribute code without prior government approval (Bernstein, Junger)
Operate internet platforms without being chilled by overbroad speech restrictions (Reno, Packingham)
Resist surveillance without warrants based on third-party doctrine (Carpenter)
Avoid criminal liability for ordinary computer use (Van Buren)
Benefit from safe harbor protections when hosting user content (DMCA § 512)