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Computers as Criminal Tools
posted by mpawlo on Wednesday September 18, @03:45PM
from the computers-in-crime dept.
Criminal Law From Anonymous Reader:

Ananova has an article (link might go out of date after a couple of days) about a man using the internet to arrange sex with an underage girl.

The paragraph that worries me is:

He has been charged with one count of child sexual abusive activity and one of using a computer for the purpose of committing the offence.

This would suggest that the crime is made more serious/harmful/criminal simply because a computer was used - a worrying precedent.



mpawlo's comment: Well, I guess we need to study the case to learn its merits. It is very hard to judge anything from a brief newsreport, probably not even written by a legal scholar.

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    Computers as Criminal Tools | Login/Create an Account | Top | 3 comments | Search Discussion
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    The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
    Hm...What about postal laws? (Score:0)
    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19, @08:49AM (#313)
    Complete newbie here, so somebody tell me why I'm wrong: wouldn't this be similar to laws that prohibit using the postal service for nefarious purposes?
    Re:Hm...What about postal laws? (Score:1)
    by tim_cullen on Thursday September 19, @10:12AM (#315)
    User #26 Info | http://justadvocates.com/
    The USPS is a federal agency. As a society we want to discourage the use of governmental instrumentalities to commit crimes. The internet (while owing its genesis to the government) doesn't have a comparable governmental character.

    tim
    Re:Hm...What about postal laws? (Score:0)
    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19, @10:20AM (#316)

    Not entirely sure on the arguments here myself, but I suspect that the postal service has further laws because it's just that - a service. By using it you agree to be bound by etc. etc.

    Presumably the ISP's Terms of Service could have similar rules, but that'll be up to the ISP to prosecute him for it (assuming his ISP isn't a public service). I think I really need to see a more detailed report on this, as the wording of the article is too vague.

    Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition. - Isaac Asimov

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