The U.S. Department of Justice defines computer crime as "any violations of criminal law that involve a knowledge of computer technology for their perpetration, investigation, or prosecution." It divides computer-related crimes into three categories according to the computer's role in the crime. First, a computer may be the object of a crime, such as in the theft of computer hardware or software. Second, a computer may be the subject of crime, in that the hardware and software remain in the possession of the owner, but are attacked by the offender to cause some harm to the computer's owner/user. Third, a computer may be an instrument for committing traditional crimes. Another section of the article explores the major Federal statutes, enforcement strategies, and constitutional issues regarding computer-related crimes. The section on State efforts to address computer crime notes that State legislatures began enacting computer-crime statutes in 1978; since then, every State has enacted some form of computer-specific legislation. Approximately half of the States modeled their statutes on the 1977 or 1979 versions of the proposed Federal Computer Systems Protection Act; and the remainder enacted comprehensive computer-assisted crime statutes less closely related to the proposed Federal legislation. Since national efforts to address computer crime are inadequate due to the international scope of the Internet, the concluding section of the article focuses on Internet-related international regulation and the areas of consensus and cooperation among nations, international organizations, and private corporations in countering computer crime. 391 footnotes