The Cybercrime Convention is the first international treaty on
criminal offences committed against or with the help of computer
networks.
It addresses offences related to copyright abuse,
computer-related fraud, child pornography and network security
breaches. The Convention also covers powers to preserve data, to
search and seize, to collect traffic data and to intercept
communications.
The Convention has so far been signed by 38 of the 46 Member
States of the Council of Europe, including the UK, France, Germany
and Norway. Four non-member states – Canada, Japan, South Africa
and the US – have also signed the treaty.
However, for the Convention to work it must not only be signed
but also ratified. This means its provisions must be implemented in
national laws. Only 11 states have now ratified the Convention.
This group of first-movers may be surprising: Albania, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania,
Slovenia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
With Tuesday’s Committee approval, the US has taken the first
steps towards ratification. However, US civil liberties groups are
alarmed by the Convention, which they see as creating threats to
privacy and security in the US.
In a letter sent to the Chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee on Tuesday, EPIC warned that the Convention ”constructs a
sweeping structure of vast and invasive law enforcement activity
without a corresponding means of oversight and accountability. It
speaks in very specific terms about the new authorities to pursue
investigations but in only generalities with regard to legal
rights.”
It continued:
“The Cybercrime Convention is the result of
a process that excluded legal experts and human rights advocates.
It is a one-sided document that fails to reflect the broad
commitment to the rule of law and the protection of democratic
institutions that has otherwise characterized the treaties proposed
by the Council of Europe.
“It is therefore not surprising that the
vast majority of the countries of the Council of Europe have thus
far failed to ratify the Cybercrime Convention. We urge the United
States not to support this deeply flawed proposal.”
According to CNET News, the treaty will go to a vote in the full
Senate later in the year.
