A draft proposal to give American and European law enforcement sweeping new powers to hunt international cybercrooks has civil libertarians fearful of privacy violations and excessive government power. The Draft Convention on Cybercrime would criminalize creating, downloading, or posting on Websites programs aimed or adapted to get into computer systems without permission; ban software designed to block computer functioning by deletion or data alteration; let authorities order someone to reveal passwords for encryption keys (Singapore and Malaysia now have such requirements); and internationalize the American law which makes it a crime to own even digitized images which "appear" to show children's genitalia or children in sexual acts, as well as linking to any such website. Those are just some of the provisions being considered. Civil libertarians fear the second especially would run afoul of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees against self-incrimination. The draft would also mandate Internet service providers and websites to gather information about users, which Wired says would potentially limit anonymous retailers but civil libertarians fear could lead to merely shifting abuses of personal or private information. The U.S. Justice Department is pushing the U.S. Senate to pass the package. International cybercrime issues became more acute in the wake of February's spam-bomb denial of service attacks against some of the Net's highest profile sites - and the April arrest of a Canadian teen, Mafiaboy, in that case.
RICHMOND, Va. - Four FAQs, three Net stats, two online security tips, and a partridge in an e-tree…ok, we're exaggerating - there's no partridge. But there is now a DotCom News, courtesy of Network Solutions, the domain name registrars. They've just rolled out their new, long-promised cybernewsletter - the first issue includes the aforesaid features plus a lead article by U.S. News editor Morton J. Zuckerman, "Criminals Hot on Cyberspace Money Trail" - and we do mean, lead: the newsletter features only the opening portions, with a link to USA Today where the article actually appeared. The quarterly will focus "on delivering tools to enhance and further your Web presence," said Network Solutions general manager Doug Wolford in the premiere issue. They'll get help from various partners in bringing those tools and hints.
--- Compiled by Humphrey Pennyworth
