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Gender IT
Appart from the opportunities that ICTs have created, they can also exacerbate existing structures of inequality by enabling cyber criminals to access and misuse private information to target vulnerable groups. In this article Weiting Xu casts a gendered lens on cybercrime laws in India. September 2008.
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Born as part of an intelligence military system, Internet has become an essential means of communication and information with great democratic potential as an organizational tool for social movements challenging the domination of political and economic power.
The September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon led many countries to promote measures for the surveillance of individuals and organizations as part of the "war on terrorism". In fact, it also provided a perfect excuse to introduce measures that previously would have met more resistance from those concerned about how these new measures might erode essential civil liberties.
Various attempts have been made to adopt a global definition of "cyber crime" but the boundaries of this term remain unclear. While there might be consensus in identifying child pornography as "cybercrime", "organized crime" or "terrorist act" are defined differently in several national legislations. As a consequence, in some countries any protest group could easily be considered a major threat and thus go under official investigation.
Efforts to reach an international legal solution have resulted in the introduction of proposals to increase surveillance on global communications, and Internet users' activities are increasingly being monitored under the pretext of preventing computer intruders from attacking systems and to stopping offences such as "intellectual property violations".
For several years the Council of Europe (COE) and the G-8 have assumed a frontline position in the efforts to build "cybercrime" legal frameworks, while the United States has been playing a key role in developing and promoting these initiatives. In 2001, these discussions, which had largely taken place behind closed doors, finally gave birth to the "Council of Europe Cyber Crime Convention". This convention requires that states co-operate in the investigation of cyber crime by allowing data to be shared between them - even if the crime being investigated in one state is not a crime in the state from where information is requested.
Minor acts of civil disobedience in some countries might carry draconian penalties in others and fighting for justice and human rights are themselves considered criminal acts in many parts of the world. The implications of a such a convention for social movements, NGOs and human rights organisations can, therefore, be enormous.
A recent well known case illustrates the true danger of Internet surveillance for human rights: on October 7th 2004 the servers of the Independent Media Community -known as Indymedia- were seized by the FBI. While the reasons for this act remain still unveiled, Rackspace, the UK-based Indymedia host server, claims that it acted "in compliance with a court order pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT)". In other words, one country requested handing over of the servers under the jurisdiction of another country on the grounds of a treaty of international cooperation, obscuring accountability and due process. This episode clearly shows how international legislation can easily be used to undermine freedom of expression.
The Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention has been promoted as a possible global governance model for dealing with trans-border cybercrime. Considering the threats that such a global legal regime would impose on basic human rights it should be seriously considered.
Following the attacks on the World Trade Centre and The Pentagon on September 11th 2001, many states enacted laws to tackle the perceived threat of terrorism. At the same time, there was an increase in the dialogue and cooperation between the operators of the Internet and electronic networks, and the security services of many states.
Introduction to the problem of cyber crime and the way it is handled by international law. The site includes news, reports, a legal library and background information on the leading bodies of international regulation.
Echelon is perhaps the most powerful intelligence gathering organization in the world. Several credible reports suggest that this global electronic communications surveillance system presents an extreme threat to the privacy of people all over the world.
In this report Hosein criticizes the COE’s Convention on Cybercrime : “As a member of civil society, I could say that we may have failed to secure civil liberties within this convention. Perhaps we asked too much of this actor”. Pdf document.
The Cybercrime Treaty is an international agreement created for the ostensible purpose of helping police cooperate on crimes that take place on the Internet. Unfortunately, the treaty, which was drafted with very little public input, requires signatory nations to cooperate with foreign dictatorships and give invasive new surveillance powers to law enforcement. It also lacks protections for privacy or other civil liberties, and applies far more broadly than to just the Internet.
This report, released in 2004, studies the repression of the internet worldwide, from dictatorial regimes to the supposedly solid democracies of Europe and the United States.
A US-based organization, EPIC opposes the European Cybercrime Convention due to its threat to civil liberties and lack of democratic participation. The site includes news, government and NGO resources, industry comments and conferences on the matter.
More than 11.000 hundred organizations and individuals signed the statement condemning the action taken against Indymedia and calling for openness and justice with those responsible.
The 7th October 2004, US authorities issued a federal order to Rackspace ordering them to hand over Indymedia web servers to the requesting agency. Rackspace, which provides hosting services for more that 20 Indymedia sites at its London facility, complied and turned over the requested servers, effectively removing those sites from the internet. It is unclear how and why a server that is outside the US jurisdiction can be seized by US authorities.
Civil liberty groups and journalist organisations responded to the seizure of Indymedia servers in London and legal steps are being taken in Europe and the US.
“European and North American governments which frequently point to human rights abuses in countries from the Global South need to explain their own apparently arbitrary abuse of Indymedia’s rights and those of its readers,” said Anriette Esterhuysen. October 2004.
In the Asian Civil Society Forum, held November 2004, cybercrime was pointed out as one of the unresolved issues. The Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention would likely become a model law that other governments may adopt. While this may appear a comprehensive approach in addressing online criminal activity, the convention may not be in sync with principles related to human rights, privacy and other. It's enforcement beyond national borders also poses danger.
Appart from the opportunities that ICTs have created, they can also exacerbate existing structures of inequality by enabling cyber criminals to access and misuse private information to target vulnerable groups. In this article Weiting Xu casts a gendered lens on cybercrime laws in India. September 2008.
Blogs get people excited. Or else they disturb and worry them. Some people distrust them. Others see them as the vanguard of a new information revolution. Because they allow and encourage ordinary people to speak up, they’re tremendous tools of freedom of expression.
This handbook by RSF provides handy tips and technical advice on how to to remain anonymous and to get round censorship. It also explains how to set up and make the most of a blog, to publicise it and to establish its credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles.
The OpenNet Initiative is a collaborative partnership of four leading academic institutions: the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, the Advanced Network Research Group at the Cambridge Security Programme, University of Cambridge, and the Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University.
The growing problem of racist content on the Internet has prompted vigorous responses from a variety of agents, including Governments, supranational and international organisations, as well as from the private sector. At the same time, it is important to note the limitations and criticisms related to rating and filtering systems. PDF format.
There is a need for stocktaking on national, regional and international legislations and regulations on racism and the Internet, and on existing alternative measures of self-regulation and co-regulation, which may be achieved under the auspices of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. However, this is not enough, and there is also a need for an independent assessment of these legislations, regulations and practices in the information and communication technologies field and of their compliance with international human rights standards.
This advocacy handbook for the NGOs provides a policy analysis of the Cyber-Crime Convention 2001 and its first additional protocol from a human rights perspective for policy specialists, NGOs, and human rights activists.
Organizations from around the world have urged the Council of Europe to reject the current version of its Convention on Cyber-Crime. The letter from the organizations states that provisions of the treaty runs contrary to internationally accepted human rights norms and would infringe on the free speech and privacy rights of all Internet users.
Defenders of civil liberties are unanimous in their view that 9/11 was a negative turning point when it comes to protecting our personal data. A number of countries have adopted laws that restrict online civil liberties for the purposes of, according to the authorities, combating terrorism more effectively.
This analysis gives simplified understanding of the implications of passing a law such as Zimbabwe's Interception of Communications Bill and requirements and obligations of the government of Zimbabwe in terms of its constitutional, international and regional human rights law obligation.
