Discuss some of the difficulties in reporting, investigating, and prosecuting Internet crimes that are transnational in scope

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The global reach of the Internet poses another challenge in computer crime cases by introducing jurisdictional complications on top of an already complex area of criminal investigation. Difficulties exist in determining jurisdiction when the equipment being employed criminally is located in one community and the computer that is illegally entered electronically is in another state or even another country.

The traditional concept of jurisdiction focuses almost exclusively on the territorial aspect of "where did the act take place?" However, traditional territorial boundaries are often complicated in cybercrime cases, as the location of the acts must take into account the location of the defendant and where the material originated (was uploaded from), any servers this information passed through, the location of computers where material was downloaded, and the location of any effects this material may have set in motion.

In cases of international scope, it is necessary to determine whether the act is illegal in all of the countries involved. For example, the Love Bug virus that spread across the globe in two hours in May 2000, affecting over 45 million users in more than 20 countries, was developed in and distributed from the Philippines, where the act of virus dissemination was not illegal at the time. The location of the defendant in such a country meant he could not be extradited to the United States, where his acts were considered illegal, because of a treaty-established requirement of double criminality in cases involving international jurisdiction, meaning the act would have needed to be criminal in both countries. This requirement of double criminality presents numerous problems for law enforcement and prosecutors trying to stem the rising tide of international cybercrime.