On Law Enforcement Agencies in Cyberspace William R. Cockayne Apple Computer, Inc. billc@apple.com Session II - Logical and Ontological Problems ÒWhile state and local law enforcement agencies successfully investigate and prosecute technological crimes in specific geographical locations, federal intervention is clearly called for when the nature of these crimes becomes interstate or international.Ó - Garry M. Jenkins Assistant Director U.S. Secret Service As cyberspace becomes a reality, the ability of the matrix(1) to police itself becomes increasingly more difficult and involved. The matrix, once exclusively for the academic specialists and techno-advanced corporations, is now expanding to include various users, from general consumers (Prodigy) to children (KidsNet). With this influx of users comes the concepts of civil rights and privacy. Newcomers to the matrix bring with them the understandings of civil liberties and law that they developed in the real(2) world. Whenever these users perceive that they have somehow had their real world rights violated, they usually apply real world laws to the problem. The optimal implementation of real world laws when applied to the matrix has been, and continues to be, heavily discussed in the network community and within pertinent judicial institutions. This paper chooses to focus instead on the organization(s) that will be created or assigned to enforce the law within cyberspace. The concept of a netlaw(3) enforcement agency leads to questions of how and what they will monitor, and what their power will be in a multi-national(4) judicial arena. More significantly, the final organization of cyberspace itself will be dictated by this agency, and even by the perception of the agency before its existence. Does the matrix even require netpolice? To many, the concept of a multi- national police force that monitors our computer-based communications and, taking it the next logical step with white collar crime, monitors us, recalls visions of George OrwellÕs 1984. Many people reasonably believe that netpolice are not required: any violations of the law can be handled by already existing courts and judicial systems. This belief, though well intentioned, has been proven wrong: most recently by the U.S. Secret Service in Operation Sun Devil. In an attempt to apply existing laws, they seized computer equipment from potential criminals and then brought these suspects to court in order to obtain monetary recompense for AT&T, U.S. Sprint, American Express and others. What resulted was an almost complete indictment of the U.S. Secret Service by the matrix community. The actions of the U.S. Secret Service ended up almost bankrupting a company that was never under investigation while costing the government thousands of dollars and man hours to discover that many suspects were completely innocent, if not unjustly accused. This type of unfocused enforcement will continue regardless of advances in the judicial arena. Most people presently involved in making and enforcing the laws are ignorant of the matrix, and, to a large extent, of computer technology. Ò...one can imagine the government's problem. This is all pretty magical stuff to them. If I were trying to terminate the operations of a witch coven, I'd probably seize everything in sight. How would I tell the ordinary household brooms from the getaway vehicles?Ó - John Perry Barlow With the migration of ÒrealÓ world persons into the matrix, netpolice are required for the survival of the system. WouldnÕt you rather have someone who knows and can understand netlaw watching over you so that another Operation Sun Devil cannot occur? WouldnÕt you be more at ease knowing that persons violating laws in the matrix have a better chance of being caught by the netpolice, who not only understand the law but operate within the matrix and spend most of their time online? The challenges to the current matrix community are constructive criticism of Operation Sun Devil (and similar actions by the government and its agencies) and the development of a concept of netpolice that can evolve in the interim until the arrival of cyberspace. 1. The term matrix denotes the Internet (with its multitude of gateways and connected nets), all bbs systems, lans, wans, and any other networks that may someday become cyberspace. 2. The term real refers to what people consider to be daily life and the associated judicial systems. 3. Present laws in all countries will have to be changed before a highly productive cyberspace can be realized. Further, new laws (or simply Òrules of etiquetteÓ) will have to be specially created for cyberspace and its inhabitants. I have included both of these types of ÒlawÓ under the term netlaw. 4. Any organization that will try to monitor the net must be multi-national, if not global, in nature. Presently the U.S. has experienced the problem of apprehending perpetrators who have acted from within another countryÕs boundary. I expect that this type of activity will become more pronounced in the coming years.