NCJ Number
227649
Date Published
2009
Length
351 pages
Annotation
This book explores the nature of "computer misuse" - defined as "unethical or unauthorized behavior in relation to the use of computers, programs, or data" - and the legal and extra-legal responses to it, with a focus on England and Wales.
Abstract
The central hypothesis explored in this book is that there are a number of incompatibilities between the nature of computer misuse and the provisions of the criminal law. This means that computer misuse cannot be effectively regulated through the criminal law alone. It requires a cohesive approach that is only viable in a global networked society by a networked response that combines nodes of both legal and extra-legal governance. In exploring this hypothesis, the book reviews the attempts of British domestic criminal law to deal with some early manifestations of computer misuse, namely, the passage of the Computer Misuse Act 1990. After outlining the new criminal offenses introduced by the 1990 Act, the book examines the extent to which it has effectively controlled computer misuse, with attention to both prosecution rates and issues of judicial interpretation. It then examines the amendments to the 1990 Act by the Police and Justice Act 2006, along with their potential ramifications. The book then assesses whether the effective regulation of computer misuse requires more than just the domestic criminal law. In this effort, the book introduces theories of risk from realist, cultural and symbolic, "risk society," and governance perspectives prior to considering the concept of a governance network as a means of responding to the risk of computer misuse. Having established the theoretical governance framework, the book addresses the role of the law within this framework. Potential new nodes of governance are examined for the European Union, Council of Europe, Commonwealth, United Nations, and Group of Eight. 156 notes, approximately 420 bibliographic listings, and a subject index