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January 2001 Newsletter:
The New Year

As another new year begins as a new beginning for designing the future and as the continuation of the previous year, this month's newsletter is concerned with last year's progress of internet legislation.

Three United States bills relating to the internet were passed in 2000: digital signatures are legally binding; all schools and libraries receiving federal funds must implement filtering software programs on all computers; and, the Computer Crime Enforcement Act. This Act of Congress allows the Department of Justice, with approved federal monies, to distribute grants to state and local law enforcement for: educating the publice about cybercrime; and, preventing, investigating, and prosecuting cybercrime.

There is a great concern for balancing individual rights and investigating crime on the internet. This is the reason that legislation has not yet been passed. Bills introduced have included topics related to: collection and use of personal information by e-commerce and government websites, the use versus prohibition of use of illegally intercepted email as evidence in court, the banning of internet gambling, spam regulation, and the requiring of probable cause for government access for the interception of email and wireless phone location information. This last topic was discussed in Cyber Criminals Most Wanted's October 2000 newsletter.

Basic internet concerns for law enforcement are jurisdiction and international law. For example, if you live in Florida, where gambling is illegal, and use your credit card to gamble at a website based off the shores of Florida in a country where gambling is legal, can the United States or Florida prosecute the website because the website is making an illegal activity available to the resident of Florida or can the Floridian be prosecuted because they should of known it is illegal in their state even though the transaction actually transpires on the server of the website that is offshore? These nit picky details are just a sample of the dilemnas facing legislators.

The new year has begun. Stay safe in and out of cyberspace.

Remember the basic rules of internet safety that considerably reduce your chances of an online problem. Refer to the Safety Guide for a quick review. Make this a family or office practice. Constant repetition will make this chore into an everyday practice.