Actually, breaking an NDA might be theft of trade secrets, which in certain cases may be prosecuted as a crime. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 1832[1].
(But, agreed that a ToS violation shouldn't ever be a crime by itself - that reading of the CFAA would give, for example, website operators the power to write criminal law).
True, it could be theft of trade secrets or something else. But that would depend on what you did with the information. Just breaking the NDA by blabbing to someone isn't a crime in of itself, but it is a breach of contract, which is what I was trying to get at.
Yeah, that's exactly right. Theft of trade secrets only applies in a narrow set of circumstances, but a broad reading of the CFAA could be applied to any condition in a TOS, which is why it is way more troubling.
(But, agreed that a ToS violation shouldn't ever be a crime by itself - that reading of the CFAA would give, for example, website operators the power to write criminal law).
[1]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1832