--- Charles Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 15:32:30 -0400 > From: Charles Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: e-gold list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: e-gold: New Global Cybercops > > http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,16532,00.html > > The Industry Standard > 10-17 July 2000 > p.162 > > New Global Cybercops > > European police are seeking broader powers to pry into computers > anywhere in the world. The U.S. government is backing them. > > By Bruno Giussani > > The wording in a recent Council of Europe document may sound like > boring > legalese, but it could have profound implications for civil liberties > around the world. It reads: "Each Party shall take such legislative > and > other measures as may be necessary to empower its competent > authorities > to search or similarly access a computer system or part of it and > computer data stored therein ... for the purpose of criminal > investigation or proceedings." > > A "Party" is any country that signs the International Convention on > Crime in Cyberspace - let's call it IC3. The first draft was > published > for public comment in April by the Council of Europe, an independent > group of 41 countries that focuses on social and legal issues. While > the > general content of the treaty has been widely discussed (granting > police > more powers and narrowing the differences in national laws), one > disturbing detail has gone almost unnoticed, and it is hidden in four > words of Article 14 quoted above: "search or similarly access." > > In other words, the IC3 could authorize law-enforcement agencies to > remotely search computer hard drives by penetrating somebody's > computer > (or a corporate system) through the Net and other networks. > > This interpretation was confirmed in an interview with Peter Csonka > of > the Council of Europe's legal office. "The convention admits the > possibility of direct online searches," he says. > > That opens the door for some very troubling changes. Lawful searches > in > most democratic countries are authorized only in certain situations: > when a search warrant is obtained, when the target person is notified > and so on. No such provisions are stated in the IC3 draft. > > Rather, the authors of the convention have implemented an insidious > semantic shift from "search" to "access." The word "search" is often > associated with force, typically embodied by police officers seizing > any > kind of potential evidence from a person, a home or an office. > "Access" > has a softer, more neutral connotation. Imagine authorities gaining > access to your hard drive remotely, opening files, reading or copying > them and leaving no trace of what they had done. > > Moreover, the very notion of telesearch collides with political > borders > and legal jurisdictions. The convention, for example, authorizes the > police to extend searches "expeditiously" across networks connected > to > the initial computer, basically prejustifying any search by a > law-enforcement agency that, bouncing from computer to router to > computer, would "inadvertently access" data located in the > jurisdiction > of another country. Almost any cop could be a global cybercop. > > The IC3 will be finalized after the summer; it then is subject to an > approval process expected to be completed in about 18 months. The > text > then will be legally binding in the countries that sign it. > > Canada, Japan, South Africa and the U.S. are not members of the > Council > of Europe, but they do participate in IC3 discussions. The U.S. > Department of Justice has been very active in supporting the draft. > > It seems that Washington, confronted with strong privacy and consumer > lobbies at home, is using the Council as a back door to expand police > powers in cyberspace around the world. That, in turn, could give U.S. > law-enforcement agents even more power to sneak into computers than > they > have now. > > ------------- > Bruno Giussani ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is the European editor of The > Standard. The IC3 draft can be found at: > > http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/projects/cybercrime.htm > > ____________ e-gold-list Information ____________ > > For rules, subscribe/unsubscribe directions, > and archive locations, please visit: > > http://www.e-gold.com/unsecure/lists.html > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail – Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/
