Newberger v. State
Florida District Courts of Appeal
641 So. 2d 419 (1994)
Mitchell Newberger (defendant) worked as an accounts credit analyst, entering customer information into a computer system that automatically forwarded it to a credit bureau for approval. The system had a built-in option letting an analyst bypass that automatic transmission with a single keystroke. Newberger used this existing feature to open two fraudulent credit card accounts for himself and defraud his employer. The State (plaintiff) charged and convicted him of making a false statement to obtain a credit card and of illegally modifying intellectual property by computer. Newberger appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient to support either conviction.
Whether using a computer system's existing bypass function to commit fraud, without altering any data, supports a conviction for criminally modifying intellectual property by computer.