As crime increasingly has a digital component, legislators in the United States have responded by strengthening and broadening legislation to address the threats; the Computer Fraud and Abuse act is a prime example. Center researchers examine the impact of this and other laws and regulation on cybercrime, asking whether particular provisions achieve their desired results and/or produce costly, unintended side effects. The goal of this work is to arrive at generalizations about the types of laws and regulations that are effective at deterring fraud and promoting security. For example, in a recent paper, the director, Professor Salane, examined legislation and regulatory efforts to deter theft of copyrighted materials, protect critical national infrastructures and deter fraud in the card payment industry.
Due to the inherently global nature of the Internet, cybercrime is not restricted by national boundaries. The Assistant Director of the Center, Professor Adina Schwartz, is concerned with the fundamental tension between the local nature of law and the global nature of the Internet environment. In her contribution to a book, Security and Privacy: Global Standards for Ethical Identity Management in Contemporary Liberal Democratic States (ANU (Australian National University) E Press 2011), of which Professor Salane was also a co-author, Professor Schwartz explored the differences between EU and United States law on digital privacy.
Papers
- Salane, D. and Misshula, E. (to appear 2014). “Legislative and Regulatory Attempts to Control Cybercrime: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” In Saadawi, T.N. and Col. Jordan, L. (Eds.), Cyber Infrastructure Protection – Volume 3, (book chapter). Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College.
- Salane, D. (2013, July 31). “The Case for Strong Data Breach Notification Legislation” In Holt, T.J. and Schell, B.H., (Eds.), Hackers and Hacking: A Reference Handbook (Contemporary World Issues), (book chapter). Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO
- Misshula E. and Salane, D.E. (2012), An Analysis of Recent Attempts to Protect Intellectual Property on the Internet. Presented at the International Conference: Global Perspectives on Justice, Security and Human Rights, John Jay College of Criminal Jutice, June 6-9.