Move is not backing down in its fight against CoStar

In its ongoing battle with CoStarparent company of Realtor.com it doesn’t give up without a fight.

Originally Posted by Move Inc. In July, the lawsuit centered on James Kaminsky, a former Realtor.com employee who went to work at the CoStar-backed Homes.com after being laid off by the Move subsidiary. In the lawsuit, Move alleges that Kaminsky stole documents and trade secrets from Realtor.com, then gave them to CoStar to fuel Homes.com’s rapid growth.

The company’s latest filing comes nearly two weeks after California District Court Judge George H. Wu denied Move’s motion to sue CoStar. Move now claims that Kaminsky violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) of 1986 by accessing documents held by Move about 40 times after Realtor.com was fired in January 2024.

Under the CFAA, individuals are prohibited from “knowingly accessing a computer without authorization or in excess of authorization.” But the law also “fails to define what ‘without authorization’ means,” according to the document National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

The law carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison for obtaining national security documents, hacking and obtaining information, computer fraud, and six other counts of hacking. Attempt and conspiracy to commit a CFAA offense carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Move’s filing alleges that by deleting personal information and documents from his Move-owned computer and accessing Realtor.com-owned documents related to the News & Insights team after he was terminated, Kaminsky violated the CFAA. Additionally, Move says it was unable to recover the files Kaminsky allegedly deleted.

Move also continues to allege that Kaminsky shared the documents he accessed with CoStar, which it says CoStar used to increase traffic to Homes.com. Move claims that Kaminsky’s actions caused more than $5,000 in damages, which satisfies the CFAA’s threshold for allowing victims to bring private actions.

“Mr. Kaminsky’s attack on Move’s protected computer systems, as an individual and a CoStar employee, caused significant damage — and certainly more than $5,000 in damages,” the document said. “Submission has spent considerable time and resources investigating the nature and scope of the breach, taking steps to protect its computer systems and engaging forensics expertise to assist.”

If Wu grants the latest Move proposal, the company will be allowed to file a second amended complaint and begin acquisition.

In an emailed statement, CoStar’s general counsel, Gene Boxer, expressed gratitude to the court for denying Move’s request for a mistrial.

“The Court’s opinion reinforces what CoStar has been saying all along — Move’s case is built on baseless assumptions, not facts. As we said from the beginning, this case – which Move tried to use in the press – is a PR response to the fact that Move is failing in the market. “Putting aside the correctness of Move’s theory, Move’s appeal also fails as a matter of law,” Boxer wrote.

CoStar therefore moved to dismiss several of Move’s claims as insufficient in law, including that Move failed to plead requisite damages or that CoStar had access to any of Move’s documents, computer, or information. Whether at this stage or in the end, CoStar is confident that it will ultimately prevail in this case, on both the facts and the law.”

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