Chapter 4
Cybercrime Law: A United States Perspective
Resources
The following useful resources are related to this chapter:
RESOURCE SOURCE DESCRIPTION
US DOJ http://www.cybercrime.gov/ US DOJ cybercrime resources
COE http://www.coe.int/Files/Cybercrime COE cybercrime resources
Objectives
On completion of this chapter, the student will:
– Be aware of how US law deals with the major cybercrimes.
–Be aware how US law deals with digital privacy.
–Recognize that the primary source for Federal law dealing with cybercrimes is the
C
– Recognize that the Child Pornography Protection Act was adopted by Congress out of
concern for the increased proliferation of child pornography.
Chapter Guide
This chapter contains a significant amount of material that can form the foundation for more than
one lesson. The ultimate aim is to have students compare the policies and laws in the US and EU,
and highlight the similarities and differences between them in the following areas:
Technology provides criminals with new opportunities, and many existing laws do not
adequately address the use of computers. Prosecution of crimes such as child exploitation, theft
Legislation covering computer misuse has matured but continues to evolve as case law and
technology develop. In the US, computer fraud and abuse are defined and addressed by the
CFAA at the federal level, and by state law for the remainder of smaller offenses. In the UK and
EU, fraud, forgery, and computer misuse are defined slightly differently.
In regard to child pornography, at ild pornography is still protected
by the First Amendment. CPPA was an unsuccessful attempt to remove this protection, the
premise being that child pornography, real or digitally created, was inherently evil. However,
illegal, and the CO
images representing a minor engaged in sexually eir definition of child
pornography. The rationale for making virtual child pornography illegal is that it increases the
oncept. From a legal standpoint, it is 1) the
right to be free from governmental intrusion (protected by the Constitution) and 2) the protection
from intrusion into our private lives by others (protected by common law). Although search and
for entities in these two to exchange these data. However, in response to increases in
international terrorism, some EU countries are considering legislation to give authorities greater
access to personal data.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What is one of the most complex aspects of jurisdiction when the Internet is involved?
2. In the US, to enforce a judgment over a defendant, a court must have which of the
following?
3. Which of the following occurred most recently?
4. The Miller test takes which of the following into account when determining if
pornography is obscene?
5. In the case of New York v. Ferber, in 1982, the Supreme Court defined child
pornography as:
6. Which of the following rights is not explicitly mentioned in the US Constitution?
7. Which of the following is not a considerati
materials?
8.
9. Under the CFAA, the provision that is used to prosecute those who create or spread
viruses, worms, and other malware is:
10. Under the CFAA, it is a Federal crime to knowingly transfer, possess, or use a means of
identification of another person without being authorized, with the intent to commit or to
aid or abet any unlawful activity. The session that addresses this is:
11. The legislation that made the theft of trade secrets a Federal crime was
12. Which state does not have a law prohibiti
access to a computer?
13.
14. In those states with legislation addressing computer forgery, contraband in the form of
15. Compelling a suspect to reveal passwords to provide access to encrypted media is
considered to fall under the:
True or False Questions
1. All cybercrimes can be addressed using existing laws.
2. The criminal justice systems in the EU and US work in essentially the same way.
3. Long-arm statutes enable US states to enforce their laws on out-of-state individuals or
organizations.
4. A single photograph can be deemed acceptable in California and obscene in
Tennessee.
5. In the US and UK, it is legal to possess child pornography but illegal to distribute it to
others.
6. The US First Amendment protects obscenity but not child pornography.
7. Virtual child pornography is illegal under UK law but not US law.
8. Privacy is a clearly defined concept according to US law.
9. The US Fourth Amendment prohibits employers from unauthorized searches and
seizures of their employees.
11. In the US, the government does not require a warrant to search through
garbage/rubbish bags left outsi
12. In the US, the government does not require a search warrant to observe an
adar-based through-the-wall
13. The US Electronic Communications Privacy Act prohibits employers from
unauthorized searches and seizures of their employees
14. Copyright law does not prohibit individuals from downloading digital copies of
protected materials without paying because it is considered fair use.
15.
Essay Questions
Debate the application of Fifth Amendment protection from incrimination to the refusal to
Scenario
You are asked to describe to a non-technical jury how data are stored on a hard disk drive. How
would you go about describing this and what visual aids and/or analogies would you use?