PC Yonkers Inc v. Celebrations Party ( 2005 )


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  •                                                                                                                            Opinions of the United
    2005 Decisions                                                                                                             States Court of Appeals
    for the Third Circuit
    11-22-2005
    PC Yonkers Inc v. Celebrations Party
    Precedential or Non-Precedential: Precedential
    Docket No. 04-4254
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    "PC Yonkers Inc v. Celebrations Party" (2005). 2005 Decisions. Paper 180.
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    PRECEDENTIAL
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
    No. 04-4254
    P.C. YONKERS, INC; PARTY CITY CLIFTON, INC.;
    PARTY CITY OF HAMILTON SQUARE, INC.;
    PARTY CITY OF LAWRENCEVILLE, INC.;
    PARTY CITY NORTH BERGEN, INC.;
    P.C. VOORHEES, INC.;
    EAST HARRISBURG, P.C., INC.;
    LANCASTER P.C., INC.;
    MONTGOMERYVILLE P.C., INC.;
    PARTY CITY OF COTTMAN AVENUE, INC.;
    PARTY CITY OF HARRISBURG, INC.;
    PARTY CITY OF LEHIGH VALLEY, INC.;
    PARTY CITY OF READING, INC.;
    CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, INC.;
    PARTY CITY OF NEW YORK, INC.;
    SCRANTON PARTY CITY LLC;
    STROUDSBURG P.C. INC.;
    WILKESBARRE PARTY CITY LLC;
    PARTY CITY MANAGEMENT, CO., INC.,
    Appellants
    v.
    CELEBRATIONS THE PARTY AND
    SEASONAL SUPERSTORE, LLC;
    ANDREW BAILEN; ANDREW HACK
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the District of New Jersey
    (D.C. Civil No. 04-cv-04554)
    District Judge: Honorable Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr.
    Argued June 28, 2005
    Before: ROTH, RENDELL, and BARRY, Circuit Judges.
    (Filed: November 7, 2005)
    Kenneth L. Leiby, Jr.
    Einbinder & Dunn, LLP
    159 Millburn Avenue
    Millburn, NJ 07041
    Michael Einbinder [ARGUED]
    Einbinder & Dunn
    104 West 40th Street
    New York, NY 10018
    Counsel for Appellants
    2
    Karol C. Walker [ARGUED]
    St. John & Wayne
    Two Penn Plaza East
    Newark, NJ 07105
    Counsel for Appellees
    Celebrations the Party and
    Seasonal Superstore, LLC;
    Andrew Bailen
    Peter L. MacIsaac [ARGUED]
    Chasan, Leyner & Lamparello
    300 Harmon Meadow Boulevard
    Secaucus, NJ 07094
    Counsel for Appellee
    Andrew Hack
    OPINION OF THE COURT
    RENDELL, Circuit Judge.
    Plaintiffs P.C. of Yonkers, Inc., and eighteen related
    “Party City” affiliates (the “PC plaintiffs”) appeal the District
    Court’s order denying injunctive relief sought pursuant to the
    provisions of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
    (“CFAA”), and under New Jersey state law. We will affirm
    because we agree with the District Court’s analysis regarding
    the lack of evidentiary basis for the injunction, but we will take
    this opportunity to clarify the scope of relief available under
    CFAA’s provisions.
    3
    The seventeen Party City retail store plaintiffs are all
    franchisees of Party City Corporation (“PCC”). Each operates
    a retail store selling discount party goods and related products
    (the “PC Stores”). Plaintiff Party City Management Co., Inc.
    (“PC Management”), manages the operations of the franchised
    locations.      Defendant Andrew Hack (“Hack”) worked for
    PCC in various positions from March 1991 until his termination
    in August 2003. He continued to act as a consultant to
    PC Management from September 11, 2003 to November 25,
    2003. Defendant Andrew Bailen (“Bailen”), also a longtime
    PCC employee, served as the company’s executive vice
    president for merchandise and marketing from August 2000
    until he left its employ on July 14, 2003.
    In 2004, Bailen and Hack formed Celebrations! The Party
    and Seasonal Superstore, L.L.C. (“Celebrations”), also a
    defendant in this case, and opened two of its own retail party
    goods stores in the vicinity of two existing PC Stores, one in
    Greenburgh, New York, and a second in Clifton, New Jersey, in
    late July and August of 2004, respectively. The PC plaintiffs
    averred that the Celebrations stores opened “just in time to
    compete with plaintiff PC stores during the biggest selling
    season – the weeks leading up to Halloween,” and that “sales
    during this time of year are critical to a successful business
    year.” (Compl. ¶ 36.)
    The PC plaintiffs’ primary claim under CFAA was that
    defendant Hack, “without authorization and on behalf of
    defendant Celebrations and defendant Bailen,” accessed PCC’s
    Tomax computer system from his home 125 times over seven
    days during October and November of 2003. Eight of the
    4
    alleged incursions occurred after Hack ceased working as a
    consultant to PC Management.1 Additionally, plaintiffs claim
    that unauthorized access purportedly was gained again in
    December 2003 and a final time in April 2004, when Hack was
    no longer associated with any of the PC plaintiffs.
    The access in December 2003 lasted a total of
    19.4 minutes. Hack testified that he had a home office during
    his years with PCC and had been authorized to use his computer
    from home; as proof, he offered e-mails demonstrating that he
    did so. He could not recall making this particular access but
    stated that he imagined it would have been for PC Management
    business as he never accessed the Tomax system for anything
    but PC Management related work. The PC plaintiffs contested
    Hack’s asserted authorization in their submissions. The April
    access was for a total of 5 minutes and 49 seconds, and Hack
    testified that it appears to have been an automatic redial of the
    last call he had made to the PC Lancaster store in December.
    There is a paucity of information as to precisely what could have
    been obtained from the system in these incursions, although the
    PC plaintiffs’ computer consultant, Joseph Savin, stated that
    “reports” could be ordered in a matter of seconds and then
    “later, with a few keystrokes,” downloaded and sent to a remote
    location. (Savini Certification ¶ 6, Oct. 8, 2004.)
    The PC plaintiffs averred that the defendants used the
    information obtained from this access to decide where to locate
    1
    It is undisputed that Hack ceased consulting for PC
    Management on November 25, 2003.
    5
    their stores, where to focus marketing efforts and budgets, and
    to obtain valuable information as to sales during the Halloween
    season. They urge that by using this valuable information,
    defendants purportedly obtained an unfair competitive
    advantage.     The PC plaintiffs specifically averred that
    defendants’ unauthorized access resulted in damage or loss to
    the PC plaintiffs of not less than $5,000 within the meaning of
    CFAA, 
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
    .
    The PC plaintiffs sought an injunction prohibiting
    Celebrations from operating the Celebrations stores and from
    using the PC plaintiffs’ trade secrets and confidential and
    proprietary information, and ordering the return of such
    information. They also averred that defendants’ conduct
    violated New Jersey statutory and common law, entitling the
    PC plaintiffs to damages.
    After limited discovery, the District Court heard oral
    argument on the motion and expressed doubt that 
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
    , which is primarily a criminal statute, provided for any
    civil relief. However, the District Court reasoned that even if
    the statute were read to provide a civil remedy, the PC plaintiffs
    had failed to frame their claim as a claim under subsection (a)(5)
    of § 1030, and thus were not entitled to injunctive relief under
    CFAA. Further, the District Court held that, even if a claim
    could properly be brought under subsection (a)(4) of § 1030, the
    PC plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success
    on the merits of such a claim, because they had not shown what,
    “if anything, was actually taken from the Tomax system [by
    defendants], nor for that matter, confirm with certainty that the
    incursions were inappropriate or outside the scope of a
    6
    legitimate work purpose.” 2 (Trans. of Op. at 34.)
    The Court also ruled that the PC plaintiffs had not
    demonstrated that they would succeed under the related New
    Jersey statute prohibiting certain computer incursions, or on the
    merits of their common law trade secret misappropriation claim.
    This latter finding was based on the PC plaintiffs’ failure to
    prove that the information in the Tomax system was indeed
    entitled to protection as a “trade secret” and also because
    monetary damages would compensate for any injury, thus
    making injunctive relief inappropriate.
    The District Court had jurisdiction over this matter
    pursuant to 
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
     and 
    28 U.S.C. §§ 1331
     and 1367.
    Our jurisdiction over this appeal from an interlocutory order
    arises under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1292
    (a)(1).
    This Court has held that a district court may permissibly
    grant the “extraordinary remedy” of a preliminary injunction
    only if “(1) the plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits; (2)
    denial will result in irreparable harm to the plaintiff; (3) granting
    the injunction will not result in irreparable harm to the
    defendant; and (4) granting the injunction is in the public
    interest.” Nutrasweet Co. v. Vit-Mar Enterprises, 
    176 F.3d 151
    ,
    153 (3d Cir. 1999) (quoting Maldonado v. Houstoun, 
    157 F.3d 179
    , 184 (3d Cir. 1998)). The burden lies with the plaintiff to
    establish every element in its favor, or the grant of a preliminary
    2
    We do not distinguish among the defendants in terms of the
    conduct complained of, as it is not necessary to our ruling.
    7
    injunction is inappropriate. See 
    id.
    We review the denial of a preliminary injunction for “an
    abuse of discretion, an error of law, or a clear mistake in the
    consideration of proof.” Kos Pharms., Inc. v. Andrx Corp., 
    369 F.3d 700
    , 708 (3d Cir. 2004) (quotation omitted). “Any
    determination that is a prerequisite to the issuance of an
    injunction . . . is reviewed according to the standard applicable
    to that particular determination.” 
    Id.
     Therefore, we exercise
    plenary review over the district court’s conclusions of law and
    its application of law to the facts, but review its findings of fact
    for clear error. Duraco Prods., Inc. v. Joy Plastic Enters., Ltd.,
    
    40 F.3d 1431
    , 1438 (3d Cir. 1994).
    DISCUSSION
    (1)     Denial of Injunctive Relief.
    We will not disturb the District Court’s ruling that
    if § 1030(g) is interpreted as providing a civil remedy, and
    injunctions in aid thereof, the PC plaintiffs failed to prove that
    they were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim because
    they failed to demonstrate any conduct on the part of defendants
    other than the alleged access (which may or may not have been
    authorized). As the District Court correctly found, there is
    absolutely no evidence as to what, if any, information was
    actually viewed, let alone taken. Lacking such a showing, the
    elements of the causes of action brought by the PC plaintiffs
    cannot succeed.
    The federal and state law causes of action asserted
    8
    by the PC plaintiffs have several elements. It is undisputed that
    the conduct complained of falls under subsection (a)(4) of
    § 1030. A claim under CFAA § 1030(a)(4) has four elements:
    (1) defendant has accessed a “protected computer;” (2) has done
    so without authorization or by exceeding such authorization as
    was granted; (3) has done so “knowingly” and with “intent to
    defraud”; and (4) as a result has “further[ed] the intended fraud
    and obtain[ed] anything of value.” 
    18 U.S.C.A. § 1030
    (a)(4);
    see also Pacific Aerospace & Elecs., Inc. v. Taylor, 
    295 F. Supp. 2d 1188
    , 1195 (E.D. Wash. 2003).
    New Jersey state law provides that any person
    “damaged in business or property” as a result of “[t]he
    purposeful or knowing, and unauthorized altering, damaging,
    taking or destruction of any data, data base, computer program,
    computer software or computer equipment existing internally or
    externally to a computer, computer system or computer
    network,” may recover damages. N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:38A-3(a).
    Lastly, under New Jersey law, to establish a claim for
    misappropriation of a trade secret, a plaintiff must show, inter
    alia, the existence of a trade secret and that it was “acquired by
    the competitor with knowledge of the breach of confidence.”
    Rohm & Haas Co. v. Adco Chem. Co., 
    689 F.2d 424
    , 429-30 (3d
    Cir. 1982). Whether or not the data at issue here was a trade
    secret, there has been no showing that anything was “acquired”
    by defendants.
    It is clear that PC plaintiffs do not know, have not
    shown, and cannot show, what information, if any, was taken.
    Mr. Nasuti, president of PC Management, stated repeatedly in
    his deposition that plaintiffs do not know what, if anything, was
    9
    actually taken, much less information that could be deemed to
    be a trade secret, and this is uncontroverted. In fact, no proof of
    conduct other than access has been shown, thus dooming both
    of the New Jersey state law claims, which require proof of some
    activity vis-a-vis the information other than simply gaining
    access to it.3
    Under CFAA, too, more is required. The third and
    fourth elements we cite above – (3) knowingly and with intent
    to defraud, and (4) as a result . . . furthered the intended
    fraudulent conduct and obtained anything of value – pose
    hurdles that PC plaintiffs have not demonstrated they can
    overcome.
    The only evidence that might arguably support an
    inference as to these elements consists of a one-line e-mail sent
    in December 2003 by Hack to Savin, seeking SKU numbers
    “confidentially.” Access occurred from Hack’s home computer
    later that month. While this raises some level of suspicion,
    without more we cannot infer anything of probative value. It is
    too slim a reed upon which to rely as proof of the necessary
    elements under CFAA.
    3
    We need not address separately the District Court’s ruling
    regarding trade secrets or the availability of monetary relief, as
    we affirm all aspects of the District Court’s ruling based on the
    general ground that absent proof of something more than mere
    access, whether or not the information in the system was secret,
    there can be no likelihood of success on any of the state law
    claims asserted.
    10
    The PC plaintiffs urge that we draw inferences of
    intent and the obtaining of valuable information from the mere
    fact that unauthorized access has been shown, and ask
    defendants to rebut these inferences by demonstrating the
    innocence of their purpose or actions. However, the elements
    of the claims asserted are part of a plaintiff’s burden. That
    information was taken does not flow logically from mere access.
    Access could be accidental, and, even if access were purposeful
    and unauthorized, information could be viewed but not used or
    taken. Furthermore, without a showing of some taking, or use,
    of information, it is difficult to prove intent to defraud, and
    indeed, the PC plaintiffs have not shown that they can do so.
    Here, the PC plaintiffs needed something more.
    Perhaps they could have produced evidence of identical
    merchandise code numbers (known as SKUs) in the
    Celebrations stores, or of vendors contacted by Hack or Bailen
    in temporal proximity to the unauthorized access. Or, perhaps,
    they could have adduced evidence tending to show that neither
    Hack nor Bailen could independently have started and stocked
    the Celebrations stores. But, absent any such evidence, the
    logical inference is not that there was access and use of
    information that harmed them, but, to the contrary, that in
    opening and stocking their stores, defendants Bailen and Hack
    were employing their expertise gained through years of
    experience in the retail party goods business, unaided by any
    information obtained through access to the PC plaintiffs’
    computer system.
    Bailen had been the number two executive for
    PCC before leaving in 2003, and had had the direct
    11
    responsibility for all of its buying, marketing, visual
    merchandising planning, and allocation of supply chain efforts
    for over 500 stores nationwide. The record contains the
    numerous e-mails sent by Hack over the relevant time period
    pertaining to his plans and the steps he was taking with Bailen
    to start Celebrations, none of which contains any reference to
    any outside information. Nor do PC plaintiffs point to any
    conduct by Hack or Bailen that might imply use of any type of
    information gained from the Tomax system.
    We have only the unauthorized access in
    December 2003 and then again in April 2004, and PC plaintiffs’
    failure to complain prior to their bringing an injunction motion
    in September 2004, when the Halloween season was imminent.
    This does not satisfy the proof necessary for injunctive relief in
    aid of the claims at issue.
    Accordingly, we agree with the District Court that
    the PC plaintiffs’ proffer was not sufficient and that due to the
    speculative nature of their proof, they failed to demonstrate that
    they could succeed on the merits of any of their claims so as to
    warrant injunctive relief.
    (2)    CFAA
    The District Court struggled with the meaning of,
    and relationships among, various provisions of CFAA. It is, as
    the District Court noted, a criminal statute, criminalizing and
    penalizing unauthorized access to computers, and, as noted by
    the Court in Pacific Aerospace, the majority of CFAA cases still
    involve “classic” hacking activities. 
    295 F. Supp. 2d at 1196
    .
    12
    However, the scope of its reach has been expanded over the last
    two decades. “Employers ... are increasingly taking advantage
    of the CFAA’s civil remedies to sue former employees and their
    new companies who seek a competitive edge through wrongful
    use of information from the former employer’s computer
    system.” Id; see also Shurgard Storage Centers, Inc. v.
    Safeguard Self Storage, Inc., 
    119 F. Supp. 2d 1121
    , 1124 & n.3
    (W.D. Wash. 2000) (explicitly recognizing that Congress’ 1994
    amendment to the CFAA added a private cause of action under
    § 1030(g)).
    As currently in force, 
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
     lists seven
    different types of conduct punishable by fines or imprisonment.
    These are set forth in subsection 1030(c). The prohibited
    conduct ranges from trafficking in passwords to knowing and
    unauthorized access to government computers. Subsection
    1030(d) grants authority to various agencies of the federal
    government to investigate offenses. Subsection 1030(e)
    contains definitions, while subsection (f) provides that the
    powers under the federal law are not exclusive of state powers.
    Subsection (g) – containing the purported civil remedy at issue
    here – provides:
    (g)    Any person who suffers
    damage or loss by reason of a
    violation of this section may
    maintain a civil action against the
    violator to obtain compensatory
    damages and injunctive relief or
    other equitable relief. A civil
    action for a violation of this section
    13
    may be brought only if the conduct
    involves 1 of the factors set forth in
    clause (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) of
    subsection (a)(5)(B). Damages for
    a violation involving only conduct
    described in subsection (a)(5)(B)(i)
    are limited to economic damages.
    No action may be brought under
    this subsection unless such action is
    begun within 2 years of the date of
    the act complained of or the date of
    the discovery of the damage. No
    action may be brought under this
    subsection for the negligent design
    or manufacture of computer
    hardware, computer software, or
    firmware.
    
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
    (g).
    The District Court focused on the criminal
    provisions and found it difficult to infer a civil application
    within the statutory framework and concluded that it could not
    do so, although the Court did acknowledge that several other
    courts had determined to the contrary. However, we conclude
    that not only the relevant case law, but also the plain language
    of the statute, militate in favor of the availability of a civil
    remedy, and specifically, the type of injunctive relief sought by
    the PC plaintiffs.
    Numerous courts have recognized that a civil
    14
    cause of action is apparent from the text of § 1030(g). Although
    we acknowledge the criminal thrust of the section in general, as
    it is found in Title 18, there is ample authority for permitting
    civil actions to proceed based on violations of the section
    pursuant to the language of § 1030(g). See, e.g., Theofel v.
    Farey-Jones, 
    359 F.3d 1066
    , 1078 (9th Cir. 2003) (“The civil
    remedy extends to ‘[a]ny person who suffers damage or loss by
    reason of a violation of this section.’”) (emphasis in original);
    I.M.S. Inquiry Mgmt. Sys., Ltd. v. Berkshire Info. Sys., Inc., 
    307 F. Supp. 2d 521
    , 526 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (stating that § 1030(g)
    affords civil action for any violation of CFAA). Accordingly,
    we conclude that civil relief is available under § 1030(g).
    Defendants make a novel argument, however, in
    an attempt to undercut the availability of relief here. They posit
    that the third sentence of subsection (g) – which limits recovery
    to only economic damages for a violation solely involving
    conduct described in subsection (a)(5)(B)(i) – also operates to
    exclude injunctive relief for claims involving such conduct.
    That reading is unwarranted. We read that sentence to mean,
    instead, that if one who is harmed does seek compensatory
    damages based on such conduct, which are available by virtue
    of the general statement contained in the first sentence, then
    those damages will be so limited. That is, compensatory
    damages for such conduct will be awarded only for economic
    harm. Nothing in the third sentence, however, countermands or
    limits the type of injunctive relief specifically authorized in the
    first sentence of (g). In fact, two courts have held that the third
    sentence does not even limit all compensatory damage claims
    but only those based on the specific subsection of § 1030
    referred to in the third sentence. See In re Intuit Privacy Litig.,
    15
    
    138 F. Supp. 2d 1272
    , 1281 (C.D. Cal. 2001); In re Doubleclick
    Privacy Litig., 
    154 F. Supp. 2d 497
    , 519-526 (S.D.N.Y. 2001).4
    Accordingly, claims for other types of compensatory damages
    – for conduct other than violations of (a)(5)(B)(i) – are clearly
    allowed, as are claims for any and all types of injunctive relief.
    The only remaining issue pertains to an aspect of
    section 1030(g) that was also of concern to the District Court.
    That is, does the reference in section 1030(g) to subsection
    (a)(5)(B) preclude relief for violations that are brought – as PC
    plaintiffs’ is – under subsection (a)(4)? We conclude that it
    does not, provided that the claim brought under subsection
    (a)(4) – or any other section for that matter – “involves” one of
    the five enumerated results in § 1030(a)(5)(B)(i)-(v). For ease
    of reference, we repeat both section 1030 (a)(4) and (a)(5) in the
    footnote below.5
    4
    These cases concerned specific language found in a prior
    version of § 1030(g) – before the October 26, 2001 amendments
    to the statute. See 
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
     (1996) (amended by current
    version at 
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
    (g)). The third sentence then
    referred to violations involving damage as defined in subsection
    (e)(8)(A), 
    id.,
     whereas the current version references
    (a)(5)(B)(i), see 
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
     (g) (2005).
    5
    
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
    (a): ... (4) knowingly and with intent to
    defraud, accesses a protected computer without authorization, or
    exceeds authorized access, and by means of such conduct
    furthers the intended fraud and obtains anything of value, unless
    the object of the fraud and the thing obtained consists only of
    16
    Here, PC plaintiffs’ claim is clearly based on a
    the use of the computer and the value of such use is not more
    than $5,000 in any 1-year period;
    (5)(A)(i) knowingly causes the transmission of a program,
    information, code, or command, and as a result of such conduct,
    intentionally causes damage without authorization, to a
    protected computer;
    (ii) intentionally accesses a protected computer
    without authorization, and as a result of such conduct, recklessly
    causes damage; or
    (iii) intentionally accesses a protected computer
    without authorization, and as a result of such conduct, causes
    damage; and
    (B) by conduct described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of
    subparagraph (A), caused (or, in the case of an attempted
    offense, would, if completed, have caused)--
    (i) loss to 1 or more persons during any 1-year
    period (and, for purposes of an investigation, prosecution, or
    other proceeding brought by the United States only, loss
    resulting from a related courts of conduct affecting 1 or more
    other protected computers) aggregating at least $5,000 in value;
    (ii) the modification or impairment, or potential
    modification or impairment, of the medical examination,
    diagnosis, treatment, or care of 1 or more individuals;
    (iii) physical injury to any person;
    (iv) a threat to public health or safety; or
    (v) damage affecting a computer system used by or
    for a government entity in furtherance of the administration of
    justice, national defense, or national security; . . .
    17
    violation of (a)(4), but they included in their complaint a
    specific allegation of loss in excess of $5,000, which satisfies
    (a)(5)(B)(i). We do not read section 1030(g)’s language that the
    claim must involve one or more of the numbered subsections of
    subsection (a)(5)(B) as limiting relief to claims that are entirely
    based only on subsection (a)(5), but, rather, as requiring that
    claims brought under other sections must meet, in addition, one
    of the five numbered (a)(5)(B) “tests.” See I.M.S., 
    307 F. Supp. 2d at 526
    . Otherwise, the language would not have referred to
    one or more of the numbered subsections, but would have said
    that relief is only available for claims under subsection (a)(5).
    We must take Congress’ use of language as purposeful. See
    Conn. Nat’l Bank v. Germain, 
    503 U.S. 249
    , 253-54 (1992)
    (noting that “courts must presume that a legislature says in a
    statute what it means and means in a statute what it says”).
    Accordingly, we conclude that the claim asserted by PC
    plaintiffs fits squarely within the class of claims eligible for
    injunctive relief, for it involves one of the factors contained in
    subsection (a)(5)(B), namely, the $5,000 loss provision of
    (a)(5)(B)(i).
    We note that one court seems to have read section
    1030(g)’s reference to subsection (a)(5)(B) as limiting relief
    under section 1030(g) to only subsection (a)(5) claims, but we
    disagree. See McLean v. Mortg. One & Fin. Corp., 
    2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7279
    , *5 (D. Minn. Apr. 9, 2004). The weight of
    authority is clearly to the contrary. See Theofel, 359 F.3d at
    1078 (“The conduct must involve one of five factors listed in 
    18 U.S.C. § 1030
    (a)(5)(B), which include a loss in excess of $
    5000.”); Nexans Wires S.A. v. Sark-USA, Inc., 
    319 F. Supp. 2d 468
    , 472 (S.D.N.Y 2004) (holding that requirement is met where
    18
    plaintiff meets the jurisdictional threshold by asserting loss in
    excess of $5,000 under (a)(5)(B)(i)); I.M.S., 
    307 F. Supp. 2d at 526
     (holding that subsection (g) affords a civil action for any
    CFAA violation, but “requires an allegation of one of the five
    enumerated factors in § 1030(a)(5)(B)).
    CONCLUSION
    We conclude that although the PC plaintiffs’ claim for
    injunctive relief under CFAA is cognizable under the statutory
    framework and language, and we therefore disagree with the
    District Court to the extent it opined to the contrary, we will
    AFFIRM the judgment of the District Court that the PC
    plaintiffs failed to adduce sufficient proof of a violation under
    CFAA and were therefore not entitled to injunctive relief under
    that statute or under applicable New Jersey law.
    19