New Law Fights Cyberstalkers

Governor Quinn signs a new law giving more protection to victims of cyber stalking.It extends a judge's ability to issue orders of protection.The law lets victims of cyber stalking ask for no-contact orders. Winnebago County States Attorney Joe Bruscato says that's a new tool for victims."Before they could only do so if they knew the individual or had a relationship with the individual."Increases in cyberstalking are blamed on the rise of social networking, cell phones, and computers. Remedies Vice President Karen Gill says trying to get rid of an unknown stalker is tough."The more actions she takes to stop the power and control over her life, the more likely will be to what I call, its kind of like playing poker, you have to up the ante."Bruscato believes that's why extending no contact orders to victims is so crucial."They can report that to the police department it can be investigated and the states attorneys office can charge that person with a crime, much like we do now when somebody violates an order of protection."People who violate a no contact order face a misdemeanor, and if they do it a second time they face a felony.

http://www.isitlegalto.com/new-laws/18011-new-law-fights-cyberstalkers.html

 Hackers Declare Data War On WikiLeaks' Enemies

(London)  --  More cyber attacks could be on the way for foes of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

 A representative for those launching the attacks told BBC Radio 4 today that it will likely turn into a "war of data."  A 22-year-old software engineer calling himself "Coldblood" said a loosely associated group of hackers known as "Anonymous" is targeting companies that have stopped doing business with WikiLeaks since the whistleblowing website released a cache of embarassing secret U.S. diplomatic cables.Coldblood said hackers are siding with WikiLeaks because they want to, quote, "keep the Internet free and open for everyone."  He went on to say that "more and more people" have started downloading the botnet tool that lets them join in the cyber attacks.

Coldblood listed Amazon, MasterCard, Visa and PayPal as some of the companies whose websites have been targeted by distributed denial of service attacks in recent days. It's also suspected that Anonymous was responsible for crashing government websites in Sweden, which had Assange arrested in the U.K. this week on sex crimes allegations. Assange's supporters claim the charges are politically motivated.Meanwhile, Assange remains jailed in London and is fighting extradition to Sweden.

             Computer Crime and International Issues

Computer crimes, also known as cybercrime, costs consumers, retail companies and corporations billions of dollars annually. Not only is cybercrime becoming more sophisticated, but it's also more difficult to trace and, ultimately, prosecute those who commit the crimes. This is because a single cybercrime operation can be spread across several countries -- even continents -- and authorities in one country can't enforce their own laws against criminals in another sovereign country without cooperation from law enforcement there.

1. Background

   • Cybercrime is growing in countries where there are large numbers of people with advanced computer skills, but few information technology jobs available. A 2007 analysis by IT security firm Sophos Labs found that China produced 30 percent of the world's malicious software, followed by Brazil with 14.2 percent and Russia with 4.1 percent. The United States and other non-British English-speaking countries produced about one-third of the world's malware. Europe was the source of more spam than any other continent, and China hosted more Web pages that would secretly install malicious software on computers of visitors.

   Challenges

   • One of the major challenges law enforcement authorities have with investigating cybercrime is "phishing" and spam attacks are created by botnets: a group of Internet-connected computers that forward malicious transmissions such as spam or viruses without the computer's user knowing about it. This makes it difficult to trace the attack to the original source. In addition, a cybercrime operation could include a group in one country that created the botnet, while a group in another country rents computers to send fraudulent emails to steal banking information and a third group in another country might transfer the stolen funds.

   Strategic Alliance

   • In 2006, an alliance was formed among law enforcement officials in five countries, including Australia's Federal Police, Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police, New Zealand's Police, the United Kingdom's Serious Organised Crime Agency and the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation. These officials formed the Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group, with the goal of sharing forensic tools, joint training and public awareness strategies. Among the group's other activities are launching information bulletins on emerging global cybercrime threats and a closer information-sharing on transnational cyber threats to look at trends and vulnerabilities.

   Cybercrime Laws

   • According to the U.S. Department of Justice, law enforcement authorities investigating cybercrimes face the challenge of varying criminal laws among different countries, finding criminals across borders and securing the electronic evidence of the crimes. In November 2001, the United States and 29 other countries signed the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention, which required each country to establish laws specifically against cybercrime. The agreement was intended to enable more cooperation between law enforcement authorities in different countries and prosecute cybercrimes more effectively.

Cybercrime presents a major challenge for law enforcement

The Hague - The Netherlands.

The world is evermore dependent on high–tech communications and banking systems. At the same time, the underground economy where cybercriminals trade their illegally obtained information, skills and tools, is flourishing.

Whilst the value of the cybercriminal economy as a whole is not yet known, the most recent estimate of global corporate losses alone stands at around €750 billion per year. The scale of the problem is itself a threat to law enforcement response capability – with more than 150 000 viruses and other types of malicious code in circulation, and 148 000 computers compromised per day (source: McAfee).

“Cybercrime is borderless by nature – this also makes criminal investigations more complicated for law enforcement authorities. To effectively tackle cybercrime, adequate cross–border provisions are needed, and international cooperation and mutual assistance within EU law enforcement, and between the EU and third countries, needs to be enhanced.” says Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol. He continues: “As the EU’s criminal intelligence and information hub, Europol has advanced IT tools and a large team of professional analysts and experts ready to support the work of European law enforcement authorities in their fight against cybercrime.”

As part of the Stockholm Programme, whose aim is to create a single area of justice and security for the European Union’s 500 million citizens, Europol has been invited to step up strategic analysis on cybercrime. Several conclusions and initiatives have been agreed upon to define a concerted strategy to fight cybercrime effectively. This will be carried out in a way appropriate to the multiple crimes committed by these means: sexual violence and child sex abuse imagery, terrorist activities, attacks on electronic networks, fraud, identify theft, etc.

To contribute to the strategic planning for a European Cyber Crime Centre, Europol has produced the iOCTA* - a Threat Assessment on Internet Facilitated Organised Crime. The iOCTA's findings address current and future challenges and are based on EU law enforcement intelligence and open source material.

                          CYBER CRIME
The first recorded cyber crime took place in the year 1820! That is not surprising considering the fact that the abacus, which is thought to be the earliest form of a computer, has been around since 3500 B.C. in India, Japan and China. The era of modern computers, however, began with the analytical engine of Charles Babbage. In 1820, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, a textile manufacturer in France, produced the loom. This device allowed the repetition of a series of steps in the weaving of special fabrics. This resulted in a fear amongst Jacquard’s employees that their traditional employment and livelihood were being threatened. They committed acts of sabotage to discourage Jacquard from further use of the new technology. This is the first recorded cyber crime!


 

google wins key copyright ruling

A federal judge in New York ruled in favor of Google Inc.’s YouTube unit Wednesday, in a closely watched copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by Viacom Inc.

The judge granted Google’s motion for summary judgment in a three-year-old lawsuit in which Viacom claimed that the video-sharing Web site had sought to exploit Viacom’s copyrighted works for profit. Google argued that YouTube was protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

By SAM SCHECHNER And JESSICA E. VASCELLARO

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575325191988055312.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews

      Paris Court Rules Against Google in Book Copyright Case

Google's book search project suffered a legal setback in Paris  as a court ordered it to pay €300,000 (US$432,000) in damages for breach of copyright, and to stop distributing digital copies of French books to French Internet users without the permission of their publishers.

French publisher La Martinière Groupe filed suit against Google in June 2006, and was later joined in its case by the French Publishers Association (FPA), representing 400 publishing companies. The FPA will be disappointed by the size of the financial penalty: It had asked the court for €500,000 per day.

Google has scanned 10 million books, more than half of them in languages other than English.

Google has faced similar lawsuits elsewhere and is attempting to reach agreement with authors in the U.S. over its scanning of books there. On Nov. 13, with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, it submitted its latest draft to the court of a proposal it hopes will settle a 2005 class-action lawsuit. Opponents of that deal say it gives Google an unfair advantage in the nascent market for digital reproductions of books.

Mary J. Blige Sued For Copyright Infringement

R&B singer Mary J. Blige and popular production team “The Clutch” which features Keri Hilson, are at the center of a copyright dispute involving Blige’s hit single “Take Me As I Am.”

Songwriters Jay Brian Ballard and Kim Jones filed a lawsuit against Mary J. Blige and The Clutch in United States District Court in the Central District of California.The duo claim Blige and The Clutch stole their song “Take Me As I Am” which was released in 1995 and used it for her hit 2005 song of the same name, taken from her hit album The Breakthrough.

Ballard and Jones are seeking an accounting for all singles and albums sold in all formats, royalties and an accounting of publishing income derived from using the song in advertisements.The Clutch has produced a number of hits for artists like Justin Bieber, Keri Hilson, Omarion, Britney Spears, Ciara, Jennifer Lopez, Timbaland and others.