Dutch Supreme Court: Website not considered 'automated work' – can hackers operate freely?
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Following the ruling of the Court of Appeal of The Hague, the Supreme Court, in its judgment of March 19, 2024, makes a noteworthy distinction. The website is legally regarded separately from the computer equipment, such as a server, because a website is essentially just a collection of data, lacks physical form, and therefore lacks the character of an 'installation'. In this case, it concerns the hacking of a site belonging to a medical post, leading to prosecution for hacking (Article 138ab of the Dutch Criminal Code).
This offense mentions 'automated work' as an element, and since the entry into force of the Computer Crime Act III on March 1, 2019, this term is defined as follows: "a device or group of interconnected or interrelated devices, one or more of which automatically process computer data based on a program" (Article 80sexies of the Dutch Criminal Code). The case illustrates the importance of statutory definitions of ICT-related terms.