United States v. Yucel

97 F. Supp. 3d 413
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 2, 2015
DocketNo. SI 13-cr-834 (PKC)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 97 F. Supp. 3d 413 (United States v. Yucel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Yucel, 97 F. Supp. 3d 413 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CASTEL, District Judge.

Defendant Alex Yücel moves to dismiss Count II of the Superseding Indictment (the “SI Indictment,” Dkt. No. 9) on the grounds that the statute under which he is charged, 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5)(A), is void for vagueness as applied to him.1 For the following reasons, the motion is denied. BACKGROUND

Yücel is alleged to be one of the founders of an organization that distributed malicious software (“malware”) under the brand name “Blackshades.”' (Pastore Aff. ¶ 17.) The malware included a remote access tool (“RAT”), which enabled users “to remotely control victims’ computers, including [by] captur[ing] the victims’ keystrokes as they type” — the “keylogger” function — “turn[ing] on their webcams, and searching] through their personal files.” (Id. ¶ 17-a.) Keyloggers are frequently used to steal login information for online financial accounts. (Id.) The RAT also had a functionality that scanned victims’ hard drives for 16-digit numbers, which were expected to be credit card numbers. (Id.) Blackshades also provided malware designed to launch distributed denial of service attacks. (Id.) To use the malware, customers were required to set up an account with the organization, typically through the Blackshades website. (Id. ¶ 17-c.) There were at least 6,000 customer accounts created with the Black-shades organization. (Id. ¶ 17 — b.)

Yücel is alleged to be the original developer of the Blackshades RAT (id. ¶ 20-a), and controlled the server that hosted the Blackshades website. (Id. ¶ 37.) That server, according to the government, contained thousands of stolen usernames and passwords. (Id. ¶ 29). This, together with email correspondence in which Yücel told a business partner that he had stolen credit card numbers (id. ¶ 27), supports, in the government’s view, its assertion that Yücel not only sold malware but made use of it himself.

Yücel was indicted by a grand jury in this District on October 23, 2013, and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking. On or about November 25, 2013, a different grand jury returned the SI Indictment against Yücel, charging him with five counts, including the conspiracy count from the original indictment, and the count at issue on this motion, distribution of malicious software and aiding and abetting the same. Yücel is a citizen of Sweden (id. ¶ 34), and was [417]*417extradited from the Republic of Moldova to the United States in May 2014. DISCUSSION

1. Vagueness Challenge

The void-for-vagueness doctrine, rooted in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, “requires that a penal statute define the criminal offense [1] with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and [2] in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.” United States v. Morrison, 686 F.3d 94, 103 (2d Cir.2012) (quoting Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357, 103 S.Ct. 1855, 75 L.Ed.2d 903 (1983)). The first prong requires a court to determine “whether the statute, either standing alone or as construed, made it reasonably clear at the relevant time that the defendant’s conduct was criminal.” United States v. Roberts, 363 F.3d 118, 123 (2d Cir.2004) (quoting United States v. Lanier, 520 U.S. 259, 267, 117 S.Ct. 1219, 137 L.Ed.2d 432 (1997)). “[Although clarity at the requi site level may be supplied by judicial gloss on an otherwise uncertain statute; due process bars courts from applying a novel construction of a criminal statute to conduct that neither the statute nor any prior judicial decision has fairly disclosed to be within its scope.” Id. (quoting Lanier, 520 U.S. at 266, 117 S.Ct. 1219). Under the second, “more important,” prong, Kolender, 461 U.S. at 358, 103 S.Ct. 1855, the inquiry is “whether the statutory language is of such a standardless sweep that it allows policemen, prosecutors, and juries to pursue their personal predilections.” Arriaga v. Mukasey, 521 F.3d 219, 228 (2d Cir.2008) (quoting Smith v. Goguen, 415 U.S. 566, 575, 94 S.Ct. 1242, 39 L.Ed.2d 605 (1974) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted)). “A statute that reaches ‘a substantial amount of innocent conduct’ confers an impermissible degree of discretion on law enforcement authorities to determine who is subject to the law.” Id. (quoting City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41, 60-61, 119 S.Ct. 1849, 144 L.Ed.2d 67 (1999)).

“Vagueness challenges to statutes not threatening First Amendment interests are examined in light of the facts of the case at hand; the statute is judged on an as-applied basis.” United States v. Coppola, 671 F.3d 220, 235 (2d Cir.2012) (quoting Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. 356, 361, 108 S.Ct. 1853, 100 L.Ed.2d 372 (1988)). In such cases, regardless of whatever ambiguities may exist at the outer edges of the statute, a defendant cannot successfully challenge its vagueness if his own conduct, as alleged, is clearly prohibited by the statute. United States v. Nadirashvili, 655 F.3d 114, 122 (2d Cir.2011).

Count II of the SI Indictment charges Yücel with violating 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5)(A), a provision of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), which prohibits “knowingly causing] the transmission of a program, information, code, or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causing] damage without authorization, to a protected computer.”2 Yücel argues that the terms “protected computer,” “damage,” and “without authorization” render the statute unconstitutionally vague as applied to him.

A. “Protected Computer”

The CFAA defines “protected computer,” in relevant part, as a computer “which is used in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or communication, in-[418]*418eluding a computer located outside the United States that is used in a manner that affects interstate or foreign commerce or communication of the United States.” 18 U.S.C. § 1030(e)(2)(B). The government contends that this definition encompasses any computer with an internet connection, and a number of courts have so held. See Freedom Banc Mortg. Servs., Inc. v. O’Harra, No. 2:11-cv-01073, 2012 WL 3862209, at *6 (S.D.Ohio Sept. 5, 2012) (holding that “[a] computer that is connected to the internet ... satisfies § 1030(e)(2)’s interstate commerce requirement even if the plaintiff used that connection to engage in only intrastate communications”); United States v. Fowler, No. 8:10-cr-65-T-24 AEP, 2010 WL 4269618, at *2 (M.D.Fla. Oct.

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Bluebook (online)
97 F. Supp. 3d 413, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-yucel-nysd-2015.