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Cybercrime: Appellate Court Interpretations

NCJ Number
181163
Author(s)
Martin L. Forst
Date Published
1999
Length
240 pages
Annotation
This book presents the full text of cases that involve appellate court interpretations of "cybercrime" statutes.
Abstract
As used in this book, "cybercrime" refers to all illegal activities that are committed by or with the aid of computers or information technology or in which computers are the target of the criminal enterprise. In addition to focusing on the characteristics of cybercrime as described in various laws, the court cases presented in this book focus on the legal parameters of criminal procedures as they apply to cybercrime. The book first provides an overview of several common types of cybercrime, namely, cyberporn (illegal pornography transmitted and disseminated through computer networks); speech hate crimes and threats; and hacking or computer trespass. An overview of criminal procedure applicable to cybercrime is also presented. The appellate cases provided in their original form involve court interpretations of cybercrime laws as well as investigative procedures used to detect and obtain evidence of these crimes. Although the book intends to present the full text of the cases so the reader can see the specific wording of the court decisions, in some instances the text of a case has been edited; for the sake of brevity, concurring and dissenting opinions have been omitted. At the beginning of each case, the editor provides a brief introduction that gives the context, specific legal citation, and the basic ruling of the case. There are 14 cases.