IP: Antiterrorism Law Expands Extraterritorial Soverignty -- Lets U.S. Nab Foreign Hackers

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2001 11:13:15 -0500
> To: farber () cis upenn edu (David Farber)
> From: Richard Jay Solomon <rsolomon () dsl cis upenn edu>
>
> > November 22, 2001
> > New Law Lets U.S. Nab Foreign Hackers
> > By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> >
> > Filed at 1:55 a.m. ET
> >
> > WASHINGTON (AP) -- The recently approved antiterrorism law could be used 
> > to prosecute foreign hackers, a move critics say could make the United 
> > States the world's Internet policeman.
> >
> > The new prosecutorial powers, which have no parallel in other nations, 
> > affect computer hacking cases and take advantage of nation's pivotal role 
> > in Internet communications.
> >
> > The precedent could be used to apply to pornography or other crimes in 
> > which laws differ between nations, according to a former Justice 
> > Department computer crimes prosecutor.
> > ``It's a massive expansion of U.S. sovereignty,'' said Mark Rasch, now 
> > with computer security firm Predictive Systems .
> >
> > A prosecution can occur if any part of a crime takes place within U.S. 
> > borders. A large part of the Internet's communications traffic goes 
> > through the United States, even in messages that travel from one foreign 
> > country to another.
> >
> > The change was highlighted last month by the Justice Department in its 
> > field guidance to federal prosecutors.
> >
> > ``Individuals in foreign countries frequently route communications 
> > through the United States, even as they hack from one foreign country to 
> > another,'' the recommendations said. ``The amendment creates the option, 
> > where appropriate, of prosecuting such criminals in the United States.''
> >
> > The FBI referred questions to the Justice Department. A Justice 
> > Department spokeswoman did not return calls for comment Wednesday.
> >
> > More than 80 percent of Internet access points in Asia, Africa and South 
> > America are connected through U.S. cities, according to Jessica Marantz 
> > of the Internet statistics firm Telegeography.
> >
> > So, for example, an e-mail sent between two cities in China probably 
> > would travel through the United States -- putting its contents under 
> > American jurisdiction.
> >
> > The Justice Department pushed for the legislation as a way to fight 
> > terrorism, and American interests overseas could be protected by the change.
> >
> > But the change in law creates a precedent that could be used to prosecute 
> > any computer crime, Rasch said, from basic data theft to sending 
> > pornographic pictures. Current law already allows pornography 
> > prosecutions in any jurisdiction the pictures pass through, but this has 
> > not yet been applied on an international scale to Internet transmissions.
> >
> > For example, an owner of a pornography Web site in Sweden might be 
> > prosecuted for sending a racy picture to a friend in Norway if the 
> > message happened to travel through a computer in Fairfax, Va. In that 
> > case, a U.S. prosecutor could try to extradite the sender and prosecute 
> > him for breaking Virginia law, using Virginia's standards for obscenity.
> >
> > ``We haven't done that yet, because it's an affront to the way the 
> > Internet works,'' Rasch said. ``But now we're criminalizing anything that 
> > happens over the Internet because traffic passes through the United States.''
> >
> > ``What it basically says is that we will impose our values on anything 
> > that happens anywhere in the world provided it passes through our 
> > borders,'' he said.
> >
> > FBI agents complain about the difficulty of computer crime investigations 
> > that almost always venture overseas, requiring time-consuming search 
> > warrants at every step and the cooperation of foreign governments. They 
> > also are frustrated by offshore pornography and gambling Web sites, 
> > accessed by Americans, that are legal in their own countries.
> >
> > David Sobel, general counsel of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy 
> > Information Center, said the change is particularly troubling when 
> > coupled with powers to send federal agents overseas to abduct and bring 
> > back suspects for trial.
> > ``It is a significant expansion of U.S. jurisdiction with respect to 
> > so-called cybercrimes,'' Sobel said. ``It was enacted under the guise of 
> > counterterrorism, but it is in fact applicable to all types of crimes.''
> >
> >
> > Copyright 2001 The Associated Press


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