Controversial cyber treaty debated Policy leaders from the Group of Eight industrialised nations gathered to hammer out details of a proposed cyber crime treaty. The treaty, drafted by the representatives of the 41-nation Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, was debated at the White House and among G8 representatives in Berlin. It also deals with the distribution of child pornography, theft of copyright and intellectual property and other crimes that could be carried out over the Internet. They also fear the new powers would give governments the power to collect information on citizens and intrude on personal privacy protocols. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called for global standards to help fight the rapid spread of cyber crime.
Internet crime is a global problem.
The fight against it requires global measures, better co-ordinated international work, and above all binding minimum standards. And without a doubt, this is only the beginning. A Romanian man has been charged with hacking into a US company's computers, stealing customer information, and then trying to blackmail the firm. Harapu is charged with blackmail and violating correspondence which carry a maximum sentence of seven years. The US company informed the FBI and American authorities asked their Romanian counterparts for assistance.