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States Battle Byte-Sized Bandits
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno was met with thunderous applause and two standing ovations last week as she announced her newest initiative to a gathering of the National Association of Attorneys General in Palo Alto, CA. The accolades did not come solely because of the group's vested interest in Reno's moves, but in sincere support of her plan to unify agencies fighting cybercrime.
Reno unveiled a framework that would establish a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week network of law enforcement officials battling cybercrime from every state and on an international level. The system would include an information-sharing clearinghouse for federal, state and local police to share information and transfer knowledge to areas where high-tech crime-fighters are rare. The proposal also addresses issues of privacy and jurisdictional squabbles, an inevitability with so many agencies involved.
Such information-sharing systems have been proposed and discussed for some time, and Reno's announcement sent a signal that the administration is serious about launching a high-profile effort to combat cybercrimes. With many states beginning their legislative sessions during the past few weeks, many already have begun to address online crimes with legislation.
One of the most important issues facing the Arizona legislature is a cybercrime package strengthening the state's current laws, said Arizona state Rep. Jeff Hatch-Miller, R. The legislation, developed in part by the state's Internet Study Committee, sets computer-specific definitions for anti-theft laws. H.R. 2428 makes "mainly technical amendments," Hatch-Miller said, allowing such concepts as identity theft, hacking, screen hijacking, online child porn and eavesdropping to be added to current statutes.
"The concept we're going after is a number of things that weren't clearly illegal," Hatch-Miller said. "We're not trying to overstep the bounds. We're trying to be realistic."
The bill would outlaw specific crimes such as cyber-stalking and flooding Web sites with so many e-mails that their processes are shut down and businesses are damaged. Hatch-Miller said that while prosecution was feasible without such specific legislation, the language would clarify the "gray areas" that exist.
"We're not trying to create a police state," he said.
In Colorado, Rep. Carl Miller has introduced H.B. 1111, which addresses identity theft. Miller said he developed the bill after reading newspaper articles spotlighting individuals who have had their identities stolen through new technologies. "It's a growing problem," Miller said. "It's a crime of the 21st century." The legislation addresses identity theft and the instruments used to create falsified documents that allow such crimes. Miller said he was especially concerned about the Internet's role in the crime due to a user's ability to access driver's license forms for all 50 states on-line. While he has gained support for the legislation and its sister bill in the Senate, its high fiscal note does threaten its future in the legislature.
Cybercrime is also targeted in a larger package of technology-related bills in Maryland. With the support of Gov. Parris Glendening, D, the General Assembly will introduce legislation allowing the state's law enforcement officials to fight digital crime. Those measures will include expanding the state's wiretapping law to include unauthorized access to computers, expanding anti-child pornography laws to the Internet and allowing police to seize those materials or technologies disabling their distribution.
Reaching Back To The Future
In high-tech parlance, anything "revolutionary" or "new" is greeted with accolades, but that's not necessarily true of legislation dealing with the industry. The high-tech community has long favored a hands-off approach, and therefore, lawmakers are reluctant to describe their actions as extremely "forward-thinking" for fear that they will be regarded as acting before the issues have been fully examined.
Arizona's Hatch-Miller stressed that his Internet committee was not trying to be revolutionary or on the "leading-edge" by introducing the crime legislation, although some have said that the package of bills is just that.
The fact that states are acting so quickly, and with legislation that comes before the federal government has fully addressed the issue, worries some in the high-tech industry. The Center for Democracy and Technology's Jim Dempsey said that some states might be moving too quickly in their attempts to regulate the Internet. He dismissed the argument that new laws must be introduced for investigators to adequately track down cybercriminals.
"If they can't get them under the current laws, then they're not criminals," he said. "What's illegal offline is illegal online."
Some industry groups have lauded the moves of the attorney general and states. The Internet Alliance (IA) has launched its own law enforcement and security council and intends to examine Reno's proposal.
"While recognizing the many benefits of the Internet, attorneys general were concerned about their ability to protect their constituents from crimes committed via the Internet," said Kaye Caldwell, IA's California policy director. "The impression I got was that they wanted to emphasize communication, sharing resources, the ability to quickly find people they needed to be able to work with when the situation came up."
- by Stephanie Lash
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