Computer Crime
As computers and the Internet continue to grow in popularity and the world turns toward globalization, computer crime has quickly become a major concern for businesses, government agencies and individuals.
Computer crimes affect millions of people and cost millions of dollars every day (Wasik, 1990). The victims of computer crimes range from individuals and schools to corporate businesses and government agencies. In this day and age, it seems as though no one is safe from computer crime.
This paper aims to identify the different types of computer crimes and what can be done to prevent them. In addition, it will analyze the issue of child pornography, revealing whether or not pornographic images created on a computer are illegal.
Types of Computer Crime
In this modern information age, the innovation and power of technology tests the ethics of the average person, not just the criminal. As a result, computer crime is on the rise.
The most common computer crime committed on a daily basis is software piracy (Lilley, 2003). Many people commit this crime without even realizing it. When computer software is purchased, users agree that it will used on a single computer and cannot be shared with others. However, many people lend software to their friends or install it on entire networks. This is a crime.
Today, computer crime includes a variety of things, ranging from malicious code, such as viruses and worms, to human threats, such as hackers. These attacks target different area of a system.
Malicious code, such as viruses and worms, attack a system either internally or externally (Loundry, 2003). Traditionally, the virus has been an internal threat, such as one within a company, while the worm has been a threat from an external source, such as an attack from outside through a modem or connecting network.
Individuals or groups of individuals that attempt to penetrate systems through computer networks, public switched telephone networks or other sources create human threats.
These...
("Supreme Court Rejects..." 2002) More constitutional problems have been encountered in the law's battle against child pornography as a federal court in September 2004 outlawed a Pennsylvania State law that required internet service providers (ISPs) to block websites containing child pornography. The Court considered the technology used in the blocking of such sites as clumsy that could cause "massive suppression" of constitutionally protected speech. Apart from conducting a legal "balancing
1st Amendment Protections for Child Pornography: The 2002 Decision in the Case of Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition. Laws have been passed outlawing child pornography in its various formats. It is forbidden by law to use a minor younger than age eighteen for visual depictions of sexually explicit acts. Possessions of such photographs are forbidden, and in 1966 the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) forbade trafficking in visual productions of
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 16(4): 99-114. Barrett, David & Melrose, Margaret (2012). Courting Controversy -- Children Sexually Abused Through Prostitution -- Are They Everybody's Distant Relatives but Nobody's Children? Child and Family Law Quarterly, 15(4): 371-382. McCabe, Kimberly (2007). The Role of Internet Service Providers in Cases of Child Pornography and Child Prostitution. Social Science Computer Review, 26(2): 247-251. Streetlight USA (2012). The Issue. Accessed 18 July 2012 at http://streetlightusa.org/the-issue/ U.S. Department
Sociologist Darryl Hall (2009) notes that the symbolic interactionism view of sexual deviance (which can relate to the issue of porn and sexual deviance) is as follows: "Symbolic interactionists suggest that the need of men to validate their sexual prowess or reaffirm their masculinity is an important factor in their seeking out pornography or prostitues" (p. 2). Such a notion can explain the rising level of sexually deviant crime in
Cyber Crimes The available and accessible features of 21st century make it hard for any individual to think about a life without technology. In real, the world has crossed several stages and eras devoid of the cyber world. Despite this truth, imagining life without technology is a difficult task today. This is because communication between countries of the two opposite poles has now become easy; it's merely like being in touch
Since the late 1980s, the Council has addressed the growing international concern over computer-related crimes. In 1997, it established a Committee of Experts on Crime in Cyberspace (PC-CY) to begin drafting a binding Convention to facilitate international cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of computer crimes. The United States actively participated in both the drafting and plenary sessions (Chawki). The Convention stipulates actions targeted at national and inter-governmental levels, directed
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