Offensive contents filtering

"The Power Of Intermediaries To Silence Speech Online" (TechDirt, 7 July 2008)

"France to block offensive content" (10 June 2008)

Censorship - China and its policy focus

A good point, which shows how much China censorship is political: "If China's Great Firewall Is So Effective, Why Can't It Stop All The Malware Hosted There?" (TechDirt, 25 June 2008)

Liability - websites - France (late update)

"French Courts Still Very Confused About The Difference Between A Platform And A User" (TechDirt, 10 June 2008)

and for similar criticisms, with more legal input, "Affaire Hermès c/ eBay : Quel régime de responsabilité pour les éditeurs de services de communications au public en ligne ? " (Juriscom.fr, 9 June 2008)

Hacking - twitter and security staff

Self-explanatory:

"Twitter hack targets Obama, Britney" (ZDNet.uk, 6 January 2009)

"Yeah, Your IT Guy Is Probably Reading Your Email" (TechDirt, June 2008)

Investigation - Police forces (need of and training)

The difficult adaptation of police forces

Police e-crime unit calls for industry aid

Inadequate training of police forces - collateral damages Tuesday, 25 November 2008

New e-crime police - a welcomed addition?

New UK e-crime police training

Response to cybercrime: specialised investigation forces? Wednesday, 19 March 2008

Response to cybercrime: hackers as security guards? Friday, 14 March 2008

Fighting cybercrime: police forces

Case study: Nasa hacker Mr. McKinnon

Nasa hacker - delayed update (Asperger's syndrome) Tuesday, 6 January 2009

Nasa hacker - last episodes

Hacking (Nasa hacker) - jurisdiction and policies Friday, 29 August 2008

Investigations - search for confessions of criminals

An old post I just managed to read, "Japanese ISPs Decide That Criminal Confessions Should Be Blocked Online" (TechDirt, 2 July 2008)

Investigation - no obstacle of encryption?

"RIPA ruling closes encryption key loophole" (The Register, 17 October 2008)

and on the wide use of encryption: "When Everything On The Internet Is Encrypted..." (TechDirt, 10 July 2008)

Investigations - interception of communications

After "UK Releases Details, But Delays, Plan To Surveil Every Bit Of Communication" (TechDirt, 17 October 2008),
it seems to finally come into force "UK Police Now Allowed To Hack Home PCs Without Court Approved Warrant" (TechDirt, 5 January 2009)
"Police set to step up hacking of home PCs" (Times, 4 January 2009)

"Plan to extend police-hacking powers gathers pace " (ZDNet.uk, 5 January 2009)

However, I have a problem with the way the issue is presented. The Home Office has no legislative power; the main legislation regulating this area is the RIPA 2000 and statutory instruments implementing the legislation have to comply with its requirement. If the Home Office's plan becomes/is a SI, then the question is whether the RIPA provides sufficient protection.

Concerning the Brussels' move, note it is not EU Parliament but the Council of Minister's decision. It is extremely controversial if it is a means to avoid legislation restricting covert operations. Note that the ECHR Court is extremely severe in its safeguard of privacy against covert investigations.

Fraud ring - organised crime

Self-explanatory: "Massive Stolen Credit Card Number Site Shut Down" (TechDirt, 17 October 2008) and "Police smash DarkMarket cybercrime ring " (ZDNet.uk, 17 October 2008)

Hacking e-mail - fraud and prosecution

Interesting facts, pretty scary also because it would not be easy to be so suspicious about the e-mail. "Negros doc warns vs. email hackers" (CCRC, 16 October 2008)

and on the importance of criminalising the simple act of hacking whatever the outcome is... "Is The Indictment Of The Palin Email Hacker Legally Correct?" (TechDirt, 15 October 2008)

Forcing ISPs and others to act via shaming

There seems to be a trend here. Shaming seems to be a very effective method to force ISPs and others (search engines for example) to filter their contents and to stop retaining data. Or is it bullying or threats or mob's justice? The difference between the two may well be nault and this is worrying when are at stake human rights. Here, the independence and impartiality of the institution making the request and for which purpose (censorhip vs protecting privacy) are crucial elements to draw the line

"Is Public Shame Enough To Keep ISPs From Doing Bad Stuff With Your Data?" (TechDirt, 15 October 2008)

"Why Is Andrew Cuomo Pushing ISPs To Use Spyware On Everyone's Internet Traffic?" (TechDirt, 17 October 2008)

"China Adds Search Engines To Its Censorship-By-Guilt Plan; How Will Google Respond?" (TechDirt, 5 January 2009)

Nasa hacker - delayed update (Asperger's syndrome)

Reactions to revelations that McKennon has Asperger's syndrome vary from annoyance to bemusement. The Home Office considers that lateness prevents the revelation to be a valid claim, but I would certainly disagree. Many mental health issues are discovered late, and in relation to crime, often after the illegal behaviour has been committed.
Contempt for hacker's autism defence (CCRC, 16 October 2008)

Appeal lost, whatsoever. "Nasa hacker loses second Home Office appeal" (ZDNet.uk, 14 October 2008)

MPAA Also Likes The Idea Of ISP Enforcers For File Sharing (TechDirt, 29 December 2008)

Defamation: civil or criminal matter?

Many legislations have a civil suit and a criminal charge for defamation. The article about Colorado US is interesting in comparison with the proposal in France to stop allowing defamation charges that do not bear for example any hatred.
"Does It Make Sense To Have Libel Be A Criminal Offense?" (TechDirt, 5 December 2008)

Social-networking and rise of crime

Not a surprise really as people on those sites simply do not understand that they scream to the world private information they would not allow their enemy to hold. Criminal law can help, as the case about spam illustrates, but surely education is a better tool and should be a better way to spend the taxpayer's money.
"Facebook Wins Nearly $1 Billion From Spammer Who Will Never Pay Up" (TechDirt, 25 November 2008)

"Social-networking sites concern cyber-security experts" (CCRN, 30 December 2008)

New types of sentences?

• First type of sentence:

- There seems to be a law obliging sex offenders to give their password to all their accounts. Two issues here: the effectiveness of the measure/sentence and the compatibility of the measure with human rights.
1) effectiveness of measure: depends on how sex offenders were led to commit their crimes. If they knew their victim in real life, I don't see how this would help detecting possible reoffending. If the internet is a first point of contact, then it might be useful, although is using their accounts the only way to commit crime?
2) the compatibility with privacy: giving passwords when accessing the internet is effectively being watched constantly when using the internet. Translated in real life terms, it is being monitored when being outside home where going shopping, talking to neighbours or just admiring the sky. In other words, the infringement of privacy is so strong, I hardly see how the measure can be compatible with right to privacy and family life (the two are linked in ECHR terms)
"Sex Offenders In Georgia Required To Hand Over Passwords... To Protect The Children" (TechDirt, 31 December 2008)

• Second type of sentence

Shaming the offender - a form of social control. "Better Response To Crimes On YouTube: Force The Criminals To Apologize On YouTube" (TechDirt, 10 June 2008)

Child porn fights and technical understanding of the internet

Fighting child porn on the internet has created many issues, mainly related to the adaptation of criminal law to the internet. A series of cases in the UK showed that interpretating the concept of posssession of obscene materials was not as straightforward as one could think. Often the problems arise from the lack of understanding of the technical aspects of the internet. In that sense, see the following story "Did You Know Caching Is How Perverts Avoid Downloading?" (TechDirt, 18 December 2008)

Note that reading or viewing can hardly be criminalised without infringing on free speech and without condemning innocent people. We sometimes come across porn unvoluntarily and see porn: to criminalise viewing would lead to criminalise anybody. Plus the difficulties to prove that the person actually viewed for a few seconds or for hours?

Fraud via lack of security

Anyone buying on the internet will be familiar with the security logo or icon on the web browser. Not surprisingly security is never 100% so problems start to occur. Fraud is obviously the main issue, and one should be just more careful when using one's main bank account rather than a dedicated account for internet purchases. "Site Certificates Forged; Internet Security Not So Secure" (TechDirt, 30 December 2008)

Filtering for obscene behaviours

Facebook banned some images of breast-feeding women. Google for blogger does the same by the way, including about pictures in blogs not listed and not available to the public. It confirms that it is not OK for ISPs and the like to make their own decisions about what is obscene. And it's no proof that rating should not exist, rather that the law should get involved a bit more to avoid silly censorship.
"Breast-Feeding Photo Brouhaha Shows How Impossible It Is To Rate Websites" (TechDirt, 30 December 2008)

"UK Culture Secretary Andy Burnham Wants Websites To Be Rated... To Protect The Children" (TechDirt, 29 December 2008)

Obviously the issue I'll be curious to learn more about is the technical feasibility of rating when the internet holds millions of articles and images.