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One interesting thing about the statute of limitations is “the discovery rule.” For example, say the statute of limitations for 18 USC 1030 is two years. If a

One interesting thing about the statute of limitations is “the discovery rule.” For example, say the statute of limitations for 18 USC 1030 is two years. If a person hypothetically stole a scooter by hacking, two years later, they would be in the clear, right? No. The discovery rule says that if a damaged party, for good reason, does not immediately discover their loss, the statutes of limitations is paused until they do. Accordingly, if the scooter company read a post today about a hack that happened “a long time ago” and therein discovered their loss, the statute of limitations would begin to tick today and the hacker could be in legal jeopardy for two more years.

henriquez 3y ago
Does this apply to criminal or just civil?
- btilly 3y ago
  Generally it applies to both. But some crimes (eg murder) might not have a statute of limitations. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/statute_of_limitations https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/statute_of_limitations Also there are subtle questions around what discovery means here. Usually it is some sort of "could be discovered with reasonable effort". If I had proof of your wrongdoing in a letter sent to me, I am unlikely to get away with saying, "Oh, I didn't read the letter when I got it." If that proof was buried in a computer file with a million pages, I probably can reasonably say, "That was a needle in a haystack, and I didn't even know what to look for." For situations between those extremes, there will be case law that likely varies by state. This is where a lawyer gets to earn their pay.
  - singleshot_ 3y ago
    Huge arrow pointing to “varies by state” on all of this. 1030 (which is, of course, federal law) actually has a specific discovery/statute of limitations in the text of the statute, and so may not be affected by state discovery rule law.
iancarroll 3y ago
The scooter company was well aware of it as I told them about that + several other issues immediately. :)
- singleshot_ 3y ago
  Well that makes me smile. I should have figured there was more to that story!

henriquez 3y ago

Does this apply to criminal or just civil?

btilly 3y ago
Generally it applies to both. But some crimes (eg murder) might not have a statute of limitations. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/statute_of_limitations https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/statute_of_limitations Also there are subtle questions around what discovery means here. Usually it is some sort of "could be discovered with reasonable effort". If I had proof of your wrongdoing in a letter sent to me, I am unlikely to get away with saying, "Oh, I didn't read the letter when I got it." If that proof was buried in a computer file with a million pages, I probably can reasonably say, "That was a needle in a haystack, and I didn't even know what to look for." For situations between those extremes, there will be case law that likely varies by state. This is where a lawyer gets to earn their pay.
- singleshot_ 3y ago
  Huge arrow pointing to “varies by state” on all of this. 1030 (which is, of course, federal law) actually has a specific discovery/statute of limitations in the text of the statute, and so may not be affected by state discovery rule law.

iancarroll 3y ago

The scooter company was well aware of it as I told them about that + several other issues immediately. :)

singleshot_ 3y ago
Well that makes me smile. I should have figured there was more to that story!