[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

(Fwd) World Cybercrime Treaty - The Rumour Mill




------- Forwarded message follows -------
To:             	ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk
Subject:        	World Cybercrime Treaty - The Rumour Mill
Date sent:      	Fri, 14 Jan 2000 22:35:06 +0000
From:           	Alec Muffett <alecm@coyote.uk.sun.com>
Send reply to:  	ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk


Does this ring any bells with anybody?

 - alec

| World Cybercrime Treaty May Be Underway
| By Steve Gold, Newsbytes
| Special to the E-Commerce Times
| January 14, 2000
|
|                 Unconfirmed reports circulating on the Usenet
|                 suggest that the U.S. government is working with |  
              the European Union (EU), Japan, Canada and |            
    other countries, including South Africa, on a draft |             
   cybercrime treaty that would try to ban hacking |                
and Internet eavesdropping utilities. | | The move, if true, would be
the first time that legislatures have started | to tackle the issue of
Internet security since the Internet was first | developed. | | While
individual governments, most notably the U.S., have striven to |
introduce such legislation, the international nature of the Internet
has | caused problems enforcing such laws, Newsbytes notes. | |
However, a treaty between the U.S., the sprawling EU countries and |
others would make life a lot easier for enforcers, especially since a
| sizable portion of the Internet and its servers resides in the U.S.
and | EU territories. | | Looking For Consensus | | EU press officers
declined comment on the reports, but one Newsbytes | source said that
a draft treaty would be subject to considerable public | discussion
and would need the agreement of all the countries | concerned, if it
were to succeed. | | The Usenet reports -- details of which can be
found in Dutch at | Cybercrime Treaty.pdf -- suggest that the draft of
the treaty aims to be | completed by the end of 2000. | | Reports
suggest that there is no public draft available yet, but that letter |
from the Dutch minister of Justice to the Dutch parliament mentions |
some of the details under discussion. A note posted to the Politech |
mailing list said that the cybercrime treaty covers many aspects of
the | issue of Internet eavesdropping and surveillance. | | Hackers
Beware | | The note translates the Dutch file as follows: | |
"Protection against so-called CIA-crimes (confidentiality, integrity
and | availability) of public and closed networks and systems:
computer | hacking, unauthorized eavesdropping, unauthorized changing
or | destroying of data (either stored or in transport). In discussion
are also | denial of service attacks to public and private networks
and systems. | This will probably not cover spam. The treaty will
outlaw the production, | making available or distribution of hardware
and software tools to do the | above-mentioned (hacking, denial of
service, eavesdropping, etc.). The | letter does not mention the
possession of these tools." | | Need For National Legislation | | The
report also said that the treaty would outlaw sites with lists of |
passwords or codes that give unauthorized access to computer |
systems, noting that the treaty does not cover issues such as |
copyright related serials and cracks. | | The report adds that the
letter explicitly points out that as a result of | this treaty
countries that wish to implement digital wiretapping for the | use of
hacking tools by law enforcement need to implement that in their |
national legislation.


------- End of forwarded message -------