Internet law - European Union's Convention on Cyber Crime (ets no. 185): First International Treaty on Crimes Committed via the Internet

Date: January 22, 2008
Source: Ibls.com
By: Ira Piltz, Greenpoint Technologies

The Council of Europe, along with the U.S., Canada and Japan signed a convention on Cyber crime. The convention provides a legal framework for the protection of society against cyber-crime. The convention stresses adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international co-operation in this arena. It is the first international treaty on crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks. In particular, the convention deals with infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security.
This Convention has been adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at its 109th Session (8 November 2001). 41 European countries along with U.S., Canada and Japan have signed this convention.

The main aims and the objectives behind the convention are set out in the preamble. The goal of the convention is to establish a fast and effective regime of international co-operation against cybercrime. The preamble stresses the harmonizing of the domestic criminal substantive law elements of offenses and connected provisions in the area of cybercrime. The convention provides for domestic criminal procedural law powers to combat cyber crime. The law enforcement agencies can investigate and prosecute the offenses committed by means of a computer system or in electronic form.
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