The growth in the use of computers and of electronic trading around the world has highlighted the economic potential of computer technology both to industry and states. In an attempt to secure the investment, governments seem to compete to provide the most advantageous legal environment to facilitate the potential wealth creating aspects of international trade. Many governments have passed legislation to secure the electronic environment from intrusion. This article compares the United Kingdom, Malaysian, and Singapore legislation to derive some understanding of the policy reasons that drive powers of investigation and the penalty levels in computer misuse legislation. It compares the laws, the powers of investigation and the penalty levels, as well as the amount of use to which these laws are put once enacted. It suggests that these criminal laws have more to do with political and economic competition than with any genuine attempt to curtail intrusive and destructive activities directed at computers. It suggests that the laws may actually be economically destructive and recommends other measures that might be more usefully employed to control these activities.