Industry brands cybercrime treaty 'a con trick'

IT industry gurus have branded the Council Of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime 'foolish, unworkable and a legal con trick'.

The controversial treaty provides a blanket legislation to deal with all forms of internet crime from hacking to online pornography.

Caspar Bowden, director of internet think-tank FIPR, said: "The Convention is essentially a legal con trick, drafted in secret by a handful of nameless bureaucrats. It equates the internet - a network of private networks - with 'cyberspace', a metaphor from science fiction.

"By this sleight of hand, the internet is defined as a public space over which law enforcement should be granted unfettered powers of surveillance and extradition," he added.

The requirement for preservation of data traffic for a 90-day period has infuriated the industry. But many claim it is the lesser of two evils. Preservation orders are not mandatory - unlike data retention - but imposed by law enforcement agencies involved in specific investigations.

Industry observers have also protested at the lack of industry input allowed by the Council of Europe.

Gus Hosein, representative for Privacy International, said: " The whole process has been very exclusive and comments from industry have not been sought or heeded - it serves only law enforcement interests."

American companies, he claimed, are worried about the inclusion of a mutual assistance clause that could see countries filing for wiretapping or access to internet traffic data on US citizens - an infringement of the First Amendment.

Hosein said: "The cost for this measure is significant. Just accessing all traffic for an individual feed over three days it is high and you can't even identify the person sending the data."

Another critic claimed the only winner would be the data storage industry.

Tim Snape, member of the Internet Crime Forum, said: "As always, the devil is in the detail. Measures against child porn, but not xenophobia, are included. There is no clear understanding of corporate liability and no cost recovery process. Quite frankly, it is unworkable for industry and if the doesn't work then e-crime will increase and that will escalate the measures imposed on industry."