I have some questions that need answers for a school project

[kman]

I am a high school student from Maryland doing a report on crime and deviance for my sociology class. More specifically, I was assigned to do a report on cyber-crime. As required by the assignment, I need to gather information from a primary source. I was wondering if I could get someone from here to give their opinion by answering 3 questions for me. You can answer them in this post if you would like or you could email them to me at:

ksoskey@yahoo.com

And if you could, please include your name so I can give you credit in my paper.

3 Questions:

1. In your opinion, why do you think people commit cyber-crimes, such as hacking or identity theft?
2. What do prosecutors generally go for when trying to convict a cyber-criminal, do they use things like the DMCA?
3. What is the general attitude towards people that commit cyber-crime? Do the accused get a "slap on the wrist" or are they punished to the fullest extent of the law?

 

[NYClex]

hm, the term cyber-crime is a very broad term. To answer your questions it is necessary to distinguish.

Identity theft for example is a crime that affects people very severely and is seen as such by the prosecutors. On the other hand it is not exclusively a cyber crime, since there are many non-cyber ways to steal an identity and to use it fraudulently.

Copyright violations on the other hand so far have not really been prosecuted that much, but the few cases that were tried to make an example. Usually copyright violations are more aggressiviley prosecuted by the copyright holders in civil actions.

One part of cyber crime you didn't mention yet is sexual offenses, from stalking to sexual abuse of minors who were contacted by email or in chat rooms and child pornography. These crimes are bing very aggressively prosecuted and the sentences handed out often are very severe.

Hacking used to be seen as a prank, but lately people got more serious about since the potential for disaster is enormous when hackers attack important parts of our national infrastructure. Especially after 9/11 prosecutors look at hackers in a different light. But still it depends on the severity of the crime and who was targeted.

 

[kman]

Thank you very much for your reply. I hope you don't mind that I will be using your response in parts of my research paper. Also if you don't mind, could I please get your name so that I can give you credit for your reply. Thanks

 

[Michael Wechsler]

(1) Identity theft can be a lucrative endeavor and at times can be simple to do if you find an unsophisticated audience. Online you can find almost anything.

(2) The DMCA is one group of laws that protects intellectual property and it may be used to protect against copyright infringement. This is not used as frequently because the crimes that occur with frequency and with higher damages are those dealing with fraud and identity theft.

(3) The punishment really depends upon the crime. At this point it can be difficult and costly to prosecute net offenders. The large offenders are prosecuted. Unfortunately laws are still not tailored to deal with many of the Internet's problems and hopefully these will be addressed soon, e.g. spam. The remedies are long overdue.

Originally posted by kman
I am a high school student from Maryland doing a report on crime and deviance for my sociology class. More specifically, I was assigned to do a report on cyber-crime. As required by the assignment, I need to gather information from a primary source. I was wondering if I could get someone from here to give their opinion by answering 3 questions for me. You can answer them in this post if you would like or you could email them to me at:

ksoskey@yahoo.com

And if you could, please include your name so I can give you credit in my paper.

3 Questions:

1. In your opinion, why do you think people commit cyber-crimes, such as hacking or identity theft?
2. What do prosecutors generally go for when trying to convict a cyber-criminal, do they use things like the DMCA?
3. What is the general attitude towards people that commit cyber-crime? Do the accused get a "slap on the wrist" or are they punished to the fullest extent of the law?