ricardo dominguez on 16 Mar 2001 12:33:31 -0000 |
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[Nettime-bold] Tech Industry Members Criticize Cyber-crime Treaty |
CYBER CRIME: Tech Industry Members Criticize Cyber-crime Treaty BY: Drew Clark CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Internet companies and privacy groups on Wednesday presented a united front against what they say is harsh treatment of civil liberties in an international treaty designed to combat cyber crime. In the kickoff panel of the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference, Jim Halpert, an attorney for NetCoalition and the Commercial Internet Exchange, and David Banisar, deputy director of Privacy International, joined with London School of Economics professor Gus Hosein to criticize the treaty, which was drafted by the Council of Europe and is scheduled to be voted on next month. The latest draft includes detailed requirements giving police new power to conduct electronic surveillance, as well as numerous sections devoted to intellectual property crime, computer fraud, computer hacking, child pornography and even anti-competitive conduct. "This law is very specific about law enforcement powers that need to be adopted and entirely vague about privacy protection," said Halpert, who is also an attorney with Piper, Marbury, Rudnick and Wolfe. "It is a process that has not been open to different viewpoints -- even different ministerial viewpoints within government." "Everything in this law is slanted," said Banisar, who also works as a senior fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "If law enforcement can get this adopted in a significant number of countries, they will have significantly more powers to do all kinds of things in the [United States]." Even if the United States did not need to change its laws to comply with the treaty, if the United States ratified the treaty, it would be required to help other signatories enforce their own laws against whatever they define as "cyber crime." If countries without strong human rights protections were to sign on, the United States could be required to extradite foreign dissidents for acts that are not against U.S. law, Banisar said. The Council of Europe, a 41-nation body created after World War II that is independent of the European Union and retains lawmaking authority, is drafting the treaty. The council began working on a treaty in 1997, but its discussions were conducted in secret and no drafts of their efforts were available until April 2000. Draft 25 of the treaty was issued in December, and members of the committee writing it have said they would not accept further modifications, notwithstanding an "explanatory memorandum" issued in February that appeared to diminish some concerns held by Internet service providers that they would be held liable for the actions of others. But Halpert said there would be two more meetings of the drafting committee before the scheduled April adoption of the treaty, and he is hopeful that the Justice Department will encourage further modifications. "The Department of Justice has been keen on this treaty but realistic that there are political concerns, and they have begun to work hard to change" them, he said. National Journal's Technology Daily March 7, 2001 _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold