Trespass To Chattels
You commit trespass to chattels if you (1) intentionally use someone’s personal property (2) without authorization and (3) thereby impair the value of the property, or harm a legally protected interest.
CompuServe v. Cyber Promotions illustrates the doctrine. Cyber Promotions clearly fulfills (1). They intentionally used CompuServe’s computers. Cyber Promotions intentionally sent an electronic signal to CompuServe’s computers, a signal that contained code that makes the signal appear as an email in a client’s inbox.