Portfolio Justice
Internet crime Policing the web
Ross Reid Justice Correspondent
No easy solutions for tackling internet crime
For all the progressive benefits the internet
has brought to society, authorities worldwide have increasingly been forced to the stark realisation that limiting the ways it is used to break the law is no easy feat. Examples of the link between the internet
and crime are a constant feature in the news and there is growing concern at a lack of inroads being made. Te hastily arranged Old Firm summit
held in Edinburgh this month – called after violence erupted after a Rangers and Celtic match in Glasgow – highlighted just one area that is causing concern. Leading Scottish QC Paul McBride, who
represents the Celtic manager Neil Lennon, said more has to be done to police the internet after his client received numerous death threats online. He said that he had found scores of websites about Lennon, some stating the manager should be killed. “One of the websites had his address on it,
and a picture of his partner and his young child on it. Tat is absolutely disgraceful,” McBride said. Following the football summit, called by
First Minister Alex Salmond, a pledge was made to establish a task force that will target internet bigots and look at ways of policing the internet. Last week, proposals from the Crown Office
were revealed that could see offenders who make death threats online or incite religious hatred facing jury trials with the possibility of jail sentences of up to five years. But it has been widely acknowledged that
regulating the web is not something that can be done easily, and indeed authorities across the world have been quick to highlight their limitations. Metropolitan Police chief Sir Paul
Stephenson said specialists in internet crime are as crucial as uniformed officers – adding high-speed internet not only benefits UK commerce, but also increasingly skilled cyber- criminals. “If British crime gangs take up e-crime as enthusiastically as we fear, we [must] match
44 Holyrood 28 March 2011
the skills at their disposal,” he insisted. Majid Yar, a professor in sociology at the
University of Hull and co-editor of Te Handbook on Internet Crime, said: “Tere has been a lot of speculation as to the extent of the problem, but it is quite clear that it is something that cannot be ignored. Electronic communication is now so important – it has become a lot more significant to every day life whether it’s politics, economics, work, shopping or general communication and our dependency on it has increased. “As a result of that we become more vulnerable
to any threats and to any malfunctions, whether they are by accident or deliberate. “Crimes against children and sexual offences
or use of the internet by terrorists is the most emotive examples. But I think the crimes that are most prevalent in terms of numbers are the very regular low-level offences, to do with the security of financial transactions or disruptive software.”
He added: “In terms of policing the internet,
I’m not sure about it being impossible. But in the current circumstances it very much depends on how much of a priority it is and where resources are going to be allocated. “In the current climate I do think it is highly
unlikely they will get to grips with the issues because they are so wide-ranging and are added to by the transnational nature of the phenomena.” Some of the most disturbing examples of
internet crime to emerge have been cases involving child abuse. It was revealed this month that a three-year
operation led to 184 arrests internationally, 121 of them in Britain. Te investigation, Operation Rescue, led by
the UK’s national centre for child protection, was joined by Europol, the US immigration and customs enforcement agency, and police from Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Canada. It identified 670
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80