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Criminal Law Forum (2012) 23:363391 Springer 2012
DOI 10.1007/s10609-012-9183-3
JONATHAN CLOUGH*
THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONVENTION ON CYBERCRIME: DEFINING CRIME IN A DIGITAL WORLD
ABSTRACT. The use of digital technology in the commission or facilitation of crime, so-called cybercrimes, has been around for almost as long as the technology itself. The interconnected nature of the technology means that this is a global problem. It was a regional agreement, the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, which emerged as the rst and so far the only multilateral binding instrument to regulate cybercrime. The focus of this article is on the substantive oence provisions of the Convention, and the criticism that they have failed to keep pace with technological developments.This article emphasizes that although the provisions of the Convention are imperfect, they remain largely relevant today. Furthermore, there are mechanisms for improvement built into the Convention. It also argues that the Convention is not a model law, but a framework upon which specic oences can be based, which allows countries to modify their laws where necessary to keep pace with the technology.
I CYBERCRIME: A GLOBAL CHALLENGE
Think back to 1997. On the world stage, Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule and the United Nations adopted the Kyoto Protocol. Bill Clinton was in the White House and Tony Blair deposed John Major to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris, her funeral watched by an estimated 1.5 billion people. This ensured that the highest charting song of the year was Elton Johns remake of Candle in the Wind in her honour. The rst Harry Potter book was released and Titanic was the top grossing lm. Pete Sampras won the Wimbledon Mens Singles, while Tiger Woods, at 21, became the youngest golfer to win the US Masters.
Now think of the technology you were using in 1997. Most likely, you had a desktop computer with a large CRT monitor running on
* Jonathan Clough, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University, Australia.
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JONATHAN CLOUGH
Microsoft software. You probably had a few 3.5 oppy disks lying around, although these were increasingly being replaced by the more modern CD-ROM. Your online sessions would have been preceded by the distinctive...