E-commerce is moving much faster than the legislation to cover online crime. It is important for people to have confidence in doing business electronically. Security and the ability to be sure of who you are dealing with are key to developing this trust and this can be achieved without a licensing regime. Licensing adds unnecessary complexity to the whole process and risks introducing a dangerous hierarchy into the validity of digital signatures. At the moment there is a lot of uncertainty in the minds of several individuals whether there is need to provide legislation to cover electronic activities because it is believed that at the moment the current law is sufficient. It is evident that the legislation is changing as technology advances and as criminals become more inventive in ways to infiltrate the private computers of unsuspecting victims. Effective law enforcement is difficult due to the transnational nature of cyberspace. Traditional methods of cooperation to solve and prosecute crimes across borders are complex and slow.
Extending the rule of law is imperative to create a trustworthy environment between people and businesses; since that extension is still a work in progress organizations should defend their own systems from criminals. Governments are still the dominant authority when it comes to outlawing criminal behaviour. An example is the student responsible for the ‘Love Bug� attack which affected millions of computers worldwide was unable to be prosecuted because the legislation in the Philippines didn’t cover cyber crimes. As a result the government has now implemented legislation which comprehensively outlaws most computer crimes. To be prosecuted across a border an act must be a crime in each jurisdiction, so nations should have similar laws with regard to cyber crime. The European council has recognized the need for this and taken charge in crafting an international convention on cyber crime. The main aim of this convention is to promote cooperation amongst law enforcement officials in different countries.
Louie Lishomwa 12:09, 29 Oct 2004 (EST)
(2004) 'Crime and Punishment' [Online]: http://www.mcconnellinternational.com/ services/cybercrime.htm [Accessed 28 October 2004]
Fisher, D (2004)'Fighting Back against Cyber Crime' [Online]: http://www.crime-research.org/analytics/410 [Accessed 28 October 2004]
Rathmell, A (2004) 'Tackling Cyber Crime- The European Dimension [Online]: http://www.sourceuk.net/indexf.html?02581 [Accessed 28 October 2004]
