Computer Law Commons^™

Introduction: Contains Cover, Table Of Contents, Letter From The Editor, And Masthead, Jessica M. Yoke

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

The Richmond Journal of Law and Technology is proud to present the third issue of the 2008–2009 academic school year, which also is our Annual Survey on E-Discovery.

Fantasy Crime: The Role Of Criminal Law In Virtual Worlds, Susan W. Brenner

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article analyzes activity in virtual worlds that would constitute crime if they were committed in the real world. It reviews the evolution of virtual worlds like Second Life and notes research which indicates that more and more of our lives will move into this realm. The Article then analyzes the criminalization of virtual conduct that inflicts "harm" in the real world and virtual conduct that only inflicts "harm" in the virtual world. It explains that the first category qualifies as cybercrime and can be prosecuted under existing law. Finally, it analyzes the necessity and propriety of criminalizing the second …

Bringing An End To Warrantless Cell Phone Searches, Bryan A. Stillwagon

Georgia Law Review

Cell phones keep society connected, and exploring their contents reveals a glimpse into the user's life. As technology develops and these phones advance, this glimpse becomes a more complete picture of the user's life. The Fourth Amendment speaks of a right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, but this right is threatened when judges permit the few exceptions to the warrant requirement to envelop the general rule. This Note begins with a brief review of the history of both cellphones and warrantless searches, followed by the recent history of warrantless cell phone searches. While focusing on the search- …

Cyber-Extortion: Duties And Liabilities Related To The Elephant In The Server Room, Adam J. Sulkowski

ExpressO

This is a comprehensive analysis of the legal frameworks related to cyber-extortion – the practice of demanding money in exchange for not carrying out threats to commit harm that would involve a victim's information systems. The author hopes it will catalyze an urgently needed discussion of relevant public policy concerns.

Cyber-extortion has, by all accounts, become a common, professionalized and profit-driven criminal pursuit targeting businesses. 17% of businesses in a recent survey indicated having received a cyber-extortion demand. An additional 13% of respondents were not sure if their business had received such a demand.

Awareness of the risks of cybercrime …

Wiretapping And Eavesdropping: Surveillance In The Internet Age, 3rd Ed., Anne T. Mckenna, Clifford S. Fishman

Books

The third edition of the seminal “Fishman & McKenna” Wiretapping treatise analyzes federal and state law and the rapidly evolving civil and criminal legal issues and privacy issues surrounding the Internet, computers, cellular devices, electronic location tracking, drones, and biometrics. Since its publication, this treatise has been cited in multiple published federal and state judicial opinions, including by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in August 2010 and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in August 2014. The third edition is a well-known resource for attorneys working in private practice and in …

Identity Theft: Plugging The Massive Data Leaks With A Stricter Nationwide Breach-Notification Law, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 681 (2007), Amanda Draper

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Facilitated Plagiarism: The Saga Of Term-Paper Mills And The Failure Of Legislation And Litigation To Control Them, Darby Dickerson

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

A/S/L 45/John Doe Offender/Federal Prison - The Third Circuit Takes A Hard Line Against Child Predators In United States V. Tykarsky, Elizabeth D. Tempio

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Civil Fraud Liability And Iraq Reconstruction: A Return To The False Claims Act's War-Profiteering Roots?, Jessica C. Morris

Georgia Law Review

During its short existence, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the U.S.-led occupation regime that governed Iraq from May 2003 to June 2004, entered into security and reconstruction contracts amounting to billions of dollars. Fraud pervaded the chaotic contracting environment of CPA-era Iraq. The False Claims Act (FCA), enacted by Congress during the Civil War to protect the Union from profiteering suppliers, remains the U.S. government's most effective tool in combating fraud. Whistleblower or qui tam provisions within the FCA function to assist the under-staffed contractingcorps ferret out fraud. This Note will argue that the FCA should apply to all CPA …

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Technoconsen(T)Sus, Andrea M. Matwyshyn

ExpressO

Law is contributing to an information security paradox. Consumers are regularly “consenting” to the installation of computer code that makes them more vulnerable to harms such as identity theft. In particular, digital rights management technology accompanying digital music has recently left a wake of compromised user machines. Using the case study of security-invasive digital rights management technology, this article argues that a fundamental tension exists among intellectual property law, computer intrusion law and contract law regarding meaningful consumer consent in digital contexts. This article proposes to ease the noise in consent doctrine through creating an objective “reasonable digital consumer” standard …

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Carousel Fraud In The Eu: A Digital Vat Solution, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Recent reports from the UK's Office for National Statistics estimate (as of May 11, 2006) that Missing Trader Intra-community Fraud (MTIC) may exceed 10 billion pounds this year.

Carousel fraud, a variant of MTIC where the same goods are sold over and over again, exploits the lingering non-certified, non-digital attributes of the EU VAT. The UK believes that carousel fraud cost the Exchequer between 1.12 and 1.9 billion pounds in the 2004-05 financial year. This article proposes that carousel fraud be eliminated in the EU through selective insertion of Digital VAT functionality into the present system. In other words, it …

Criminalizing Internet Gambling: Should The Federal Government Keep Bluffing Or Fold?, Wesley S. Ashton

ExpressO

This paper first describes the various mechanical aspects of Internet gambling, and then reviews the U.S. criminal laws that apply to gambling conducted online. As part of this review, several criminal and civil cases involving Internet gambling activities are discussed. Lastly, how the rapidly changing gambling landscape in the United States and the world may effect future federal lawmaking efforts for controlling Internet gambling is considered.

The Misery Of Mitra: Considering Criminal Punishment For Computer Crimes, James T. Tsai

ExpressO

This paper analyzes the policies and philosophy of punishment for computer crimes under the post-Sept. 11th regime. I argue that the judicial discourse represented in Mitra represents a willingness to use the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to go after defendants that cause trouble with critical infrastructures, the so-called “domestic terrorist.” This is manifested in the levels of punishments for such offenses and calls into question whether the traditional theories of punishment are applicable. I argue that as a policy, it makes good sense but the hazy definitions of terrorism may present problems for its success, and instead an approach …

Password Theft: Rethinking An Old Crime In A New Era, Daniel S. Shamah

ExpressO

This is a discussion of the legal and economic ramifications of password theft.

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

New Jersey’S Adult Internet Luring Statute: An Appropriate Next Step?, John W. Lomas Jr.

Duke Law & Technology Review

New Jersey recently enacted legislation prohibiting the use of the Internet to lure or entice someone to a location with the purpose of committing a crime with or against that person or some other person. Most states have similar laws pertaining to pedophiles, but this is the first adult Internet luring statute. State measures to regulate the Internet, even in the context of criminal justice, will likely face constitutional challenge since the Internet has become such a critical vehicle for both protected speech and interstate commerce. Furthermore, while the use of the Internet in the commission of crimes against other …

The Dormant Commerce Clause And State Regulation Of The Internet: Are Laws Protecting Minors From Sexual Predators Constitutionally Different Than Those Protecting Minors From Sexually Explicit Materials?, Chin Pann

Duke Law & Technology Review

Several states have enacted statutes to protect minors from harmful or obscene materials disseminated over the Internet, as well as from pedophiles seeking to use the Internet to lure them into sexual conduct. State and federal courts have diverged in their analysis of the Dormant Commerce Clause's impact on state regulation in these areas. While state courts have held that the Dormant Commerce Clause does not invalidate state luring statutes, federal courts have been consistent in finding state dissemination statutes unconstitutional. This iBrief summarizes recent state and federal jurisprudence in this area and concludes that state courts have not been …

Plugging The “Phishing” Hole: Legislation Versus Technology, Robert Louis B. Stevenson

Duke Law & Technology Review

This iBrief analyzes the Anti-Phishing Act of 2005, legislation aimed at curbing the problem of "phishing." Phishing is the sending of fraudulent emails which appear to be from legitimate businesses and thereby fooling the recipients into divulging personal information such as credit card numbers. While this legislation may provide some assistance in the fight against phishing, it is limited by the global nature of the Internet and the ease with which phishers can hide and avoid judgments. This iBrief therefore concludes that although the Anti-Phishing Act can play a supporting role in the battle, technological solutions are the most effective …

The Convention On Cybercrime: A Harmonized Implementation Of International Penal Law: What Prospects For Procedural Due Process?, 23 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 329 (2005), Miriam F. Miquelon-Weismann

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The CoE Convention on cybercrime provides a treaty-based framework that imposes on the participating nations the obligation to enact legislation criminalizing certain conduct related to computer systems, create investigative procedures and ensure their availability to domestic law enforcement authorities to investigate cybercrime offenses, including procedures to obtain electronic evidence in all of its forms and create a regime of broad international cooperation, including assistance in extradition of fugitives sought for crimes identified under the CoE Convention. Since there is no internationally recognized legal definition of computer crime, this article briefly presents the generally recognized categories of cybercrime and then proceeds …

Pennsylvania And Pornography: Cdt V. Pappert Offers A New Approach To Criminal Liability, 23 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 411 (2005), John Spence

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The rapid expansion of information technology in the past few years has left states and the Federal government struggling desperately to keep up and many of the laws attempting to regulate the Internet and information technology show a lack of understanding how the affected technology actually works and could possibly the growth and distribution of new ideas and inventions even incapacitate the Internet. One area in particular that has been the subject of widespread concern and attention is online pornography, a business that few people only realize just how big it truly is. This article focuses on the recent District …

Virtually Free From Punishment Until Proven Guilty: The Internet, Web-Cameras And The Compelling Necessity Standard, Michael Clements

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Few legal maxims have had greater resonance than the tenet that one is innocent until proven guilty. It is a principle that has been traced back to Roman times, and it entered the American legal lexicon through the United States Supreme Court decision Coffin v. United States. It has even been incorporated in the United Nations’1948 Declaration of Human Rights under article eleven, section one.4

The Law And Economics Of Cybersecurity: An Introduction, Mark F. Grady, Francesco Parisi

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

One of the most controversial theoretical issues of our time is the governance of cybersecurity. Computer security experts, national security experts, and policy analysts have all struggled to bring meaningful analysis to cybersecurity; however, the discipline of law & economics has yet to be fully applied to the issue. This introduction presents work by leading national scholars who examine this complex national security challenge from a law and economics perspective. The focus spans from a discussion of pure market solutions to public-private issue analysis, providing a valuable basis for policy considerations concerning the appropriate governmental role on the issue of …

New Technology, Old Defenses: Internet Sting Operations And Attempt Liability, Audrey Rogers

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

United States V. Irving, Jared Spitalnick

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Verdugo In Cyberspace: Boundaries Of Fourth Amendment Rights For Foreign Nationals In Cybercrime Cases, Stewart M. Young

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

This Comment examines the current legal framework governing Fourth Amendment rights for foreign nationals accused of committing crimes within the United States. Over the past three years, federal courts have tried several cases charging foreign nationals with committing crimes through the use of the Internet; these cases demonstrate a lack of clarity in the standard for warrant requirements regarding these searches. Utilizing these cases, this Comment creates a hypothetical case that presents the issues of Fourth Amendment rights for foreign nationals and seeks to determine how such a question should be answered. It advocates the clear application of United States …

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

ExpressO

The article analyzes the structure and evolution of the current, traditional model of law enforcement and explains why this model is not an effective means of addressing computer-facilitated criminal activity. It begins by analyzing the operation of rules in collective systems composed of biological or artificial entities; it explains that every such system utilizes basic, constitutive rules to maintain both internal and external order. The article explains that intelligence has a profound effect upon a system’s ability to maintain internal order. Intelligence creates the capacity for deviant behavior, i.e., the refusal to abide by constitutive rules, and this requires the …

Is I-Voting I-Llegal?, Brett Stohs

Duke Law & Technology Review

The Voting Rights Act was passed to prevent racial discrimination in all voting booths. Does the existence of a racial digital divide make Internet elections for public office merely a computer geek's pipe dream? Or can i-voting withstand scrutiny under the current state of the law? This i-Brief will consider the current state of the law, and whether disproportionate benefits will be enough to stop this extension of technology dead in its tracks.

Digital Architecture As Crime Control, Neal K. Katyal

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper explains how theories of realspace architecture inform the prevention of computer crime. Despite the prevalence of the metaphor, architects in realspace and cyberspace have not talked to one another. There is a dearth of literature about digital architecture and crime altogether, and the realspace architectural literature on crime prevention is often far too soft for many software engineers. This paper will suggest the broad brushstrokes of potential design solutions to cybercrime, and in the course of so doing, will pose severe criticisms of the White House's recent proposals on cybersecurity.

The paper begins by introducing four concepts of …