US companies are voicing concerns over a draft convention on
cybercrime partly because, if adopted in its present form by the
US, they worry that the police of former Soviet-bloc nations might
exploit new powers it provides.
The convention is being drafted under the auspices of the
41-member Council of Europe, but it is also backed by the
Governments of other major countries, including the US and Japan.
It is now in its 25th draft. It aims to harmonise laws on hacking,
piracy, on-line fraud and child pornography. However, the idea of
harmonising police powers of investigation has raised fears in the
US.
One US commentator asks lawyers on Law.com, “Do you want
investigators rummaging around your clients’ computer systems on
warrants issued by former Soviet-bloc nations?”
This fear seems to have persuaded AT&T and other high-tech
companies, the US Chamber of Commerce and the Information
Technology Association of America to oppose the convention. They
worry that all ISPs, telcos and other businesses would have to
co-operate with warrants issued by foreign courts.
The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA)
has complained about “burdensome data preservation requirements on
ISPs” – yet the current draft does not go this far.
The draft states that an ISP can be required by its country's
laws to collect traffic and content data only “within its existing
technical capability,” meaning that no new equipment would be
required by the ISP.
For ISPs in the UK, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers
Act 2000, the police and other authorities will, in certain
circumstances, be able to require the company to put such equipment
in place to comply with an order to intercept certain
communications on their systems. The cybercrime convention’s
proposals will not change this position in the UK because the draft
convention does not go this far. Many other countries have similar
requirements, but not the US.
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