Digital Legislation
Date: October 15, 2003Source: Computer Crime Research Center
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... activity of TV-radio organization is reflected by other technical means (Internet-technologies). On the other hand, the definition of TV-radio organization given in the current legislation does not allow referring TV Internet-technologies to the same. No comments. However, TV-radio organizations and their creative officials have particular rights and duties. Their main right is to have an access to any information and the main duty is to objectively reflect it in their materials. If you want to use materials produced in the TV program of news to establish a fact, can you use appropriate web site materials? How is the adequacy of air and web site material regulated? If the direct topic uses the author’s statement with unreal data, can they be located on the web site and who will respond? All these problems can be referred to the Internet-versions of printed issues.
NextAnother situation can also cause not less active disputes. It describes the legal status of merely online projects, i.e. those having no analogues in the material world – Internet-journals, Internet-newspapers, Internet-information agencies. Can the web site be considered as a means of mass information? It depends on its functional purpose. The problem of the legal status for online products can be solved in a following way. It is required to introduce a legal norm that would protect rights and interests of persons and organizations when false information on them is placed on the web site of any belonging and destination, as well as on personal ones. Such an approach would deprive many persons of their illusions that everything is permissible in the virtual space. Time when only ethic norms and code of honor could save the Internet-space from boorishness and falsehood has already elapsed or not started yet. On the other hand, the voluntary registration of web sites as means of mass information would allow both organizations and their creative officials to legally have the whole complex of rights of those presenting the fourth authority and, of course, particular duties.
This list of problems connected with means of mass information realizing their functions in the online space is far from being complete. It is necessary to remember about copyrights, authors’ earnings, ratio of content-providers to Internet-providers and many other things. It is necessary now to elaborate laws with due regard for widely used computer technologies and means of mass information to democratize society, create civil society, converge them in future and qualitatively transform them into mass communications. The dynamics of developing new information technologies makes us act without hesitating.
The sphere that directly influences the development of new electronic technologies cannot be passed over in silence. It concerns telecommunications. The development of telecommunications determines the rate of using computer technologies. The lawmakers have realized importance of telecommunications for Ukraine and its economy. They have been attentively considering some variants of the bill “On telecommunications” for two years but there is no positive results. They have been turned down.
Now under conditions of Ukrtelecom privatization, an obviously false point of view is formed: let any law “On telecommunications” be accepted if only more quicker. There is something true in it, as a future industrial investor would like to know game rules on the Ukraine’s telecommunication market in advance. It is not an idle curiosity. It is important to know the content of this law. The strategy of his conduct will depend much on it. Our dominant operator is privatized not only to make assessments to State budget but also encourage an effective owner capable of realizing Ukrtelecom technological and marketing breakthrough that will allow putting telecommunication on the modern technological level. It requires a lot: considerable and quick investments, up-to-date management, new corporate marketing policy and qualified personnel assured of their actions. The staff consisted of more than one hundred thousand persons is difficult to replace, or rather, cannot be replaced at all. Therefore, the human resource also needs appropriate investments.
However, the world experience shows that the development of the whole telecommunication sphere depends not only on the dominant operator but also on other ones capable of competing with it in providing various modern telecommunication services, especially with due regard for those or other local conditions, and, naturally, supplementing and developing potentialities of the dominant operator. In Ukraine as all over the world, laws and normative acts regulate interaction between operators, introduction of technologies, development of main and local networks and determination of tariffs. Consequently, if there are many participants on the telecommunication market, various services are provided, the number of users increases and telecommunications are of great importance for the economy of both a particular enterprise and the country as a whole, the legislative base takes on special significance. Therefore, the law “On telecommunications” is a necessary condition for the progress of the entire telecommunication sphere in Ukraine.
When preparing the bill “On telecommunications”, various models of regulating this sphere can be suggested. However, it should be remembered that the activity in the telecommunication sphere is of an international character. Therefore, it is subjected to the hard legal coordination on the part of appropriate international organizations. Hence, it is expedient to prepare a draft completely harmonized with international laws and WTO requirements whereas some norms can be carried into effect more later when the market is ready for those innovations. Special attention should be paid to the problem of stabilizing the position of the dominant operator on the telecommunication market as a pledge of the entire telecommunication sphere steadiness and simultaneously creating the competitive environment for all operators.
The most important problem for the modern society saturated with information computer technologies is to fight cybercrimes. They are committed against the right of computer information technology owners and users to obtain and spread true and complete data in proper time; property in information or software; protection from negative information influence, negative consequences of computer information technology operation and unauthorized spread of data. The objects of computer criminals are financial-banking, transport, telecommunication and other state automated control systems. They also attack computer systems and networks used by commercial structures and particular persons. According to the US statistics, in USA an average damage makes up $3.2 thousand (a physical bank robbery), $23 thousand (a swindle) and $500 thousand (a cybertheft).
According to interrogation data, hearing materials and scientific observations, the world society faces serious problems in this field. If computer technologies and networks remain vulnerable, it can cause appreciable losses in the most various fields. The activities of political extremists and terrorists, as well as criminal groups directed against vital objects can succeed. All this is aggravated by the imperfectness of criminal laws and state system on fighting computer crimes.
Ukraine has accepted a new Criminal Code. It is an advance at least regarding computer crimes. There appeared a special chapter with three direct norms – Articles 361, 362 and 363. Other chapters have also four norms indirectly connected with fighting cybercrimes. However, these norms should be corrected not to repeat a sad mistake made by Ukraine’s previous Criminal Code article of 1981. For example, Article 361 provides for a penalty when “computer viruses are spread by using software and hardware designed to illegally penetrate into these machines, systems and computer networks …”. If software (viruses) can be classified as designed for unauthorized penetration, hardware (computer, telecommunication networks) is quite difficult to refer to the same. Consequently, the criminal prosecution for spreading computer viruses is impossible to realize because of the wording “software and hardware” in the Criminal Code. The punishment of those who produce viruses is not provided for at all.
In addition, the following socially dangerous acts are outside the above articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code: prevention from obtaining computer information including blockage of computer network operation (Spam), unauthorized use and spread of computer data, prevention from spreading legal information, for example, by cutting web site from Internet and so on.
Therefore, quite laborious work will have to be done in the field of computer crimes. It should be noted that the character of developing up-to-date information computer technologies, especially, their globalization level allows no country to solve the problem of computer crimes alone. Practically all the aspects of fighting these crimes should be harmonized with the international experience.
The above problems are certainly not to exhaust the whole list of legislative work in the field of computer information technologies. So much evident becomes a big package of works that should be done in Ukraine. Writing those drafts cannot be a destiny of particular initiators. It is necessary to combine efforts of many experts in various fields of knowledge. It would be expedient to create a constant working group consisting of representatives...
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