Law Commons^™

Toward A Criminal Law For Cyberspace: A New Model Of Law Enforcement?, Susan W. Brenner

School of Law Faculty Publications

This article argues that one consequence of the increasing proliferation of computer technology and the attendant migration of human activities, including illegal activities, into cyberspace is that the efficacy of our traditional approach to enforcing the criminal law is eroding. (1) As Section II explains, it is already apparent that the traditional model is not an effective means of dealing with cybercrime, i.e., crime the commission of which entails the use of computer technology. (2)

We are therefore seeing the emergence of an alternative approach to law enforcement, (3) one that emphasizes collaboration between the public and private sectors and …

Toward A Criminal Law For Cyberspace: Distributed Security, Susan W. Brenner

School of Law Faculty Publications

Cybercrime creates unique challenges for the reactive model of crime control that has been predominant for approximately the last century and a half. That model makes certain assumptions about crime, which derive from characteristics of real-world crime. These assumptions do not hold for cybercrime, so the reactive model is not an appropriate means of dealing with online crime. The article explains how modified principles of criminal law can be utilized to implement a new, non-reactive model which can deal effectively with cybercrime. This model of distributed security emphasizes prevention, rather than reaction, which is achieved by holding citizens liable for …