Illegal activities on the Internet

Description:

The Internet is a medium that offers users many different possibilities. The majority of these possibilities are perfectly legal, but the grat amount of possibilities the web brings also makes it fairly easy for illegal practices to take place. These happen more often than one would think. One of the first illegal activities that comes into mind when thinking of the Internet is the sharing of intellectual property. Music, movies and games are shared on a huge scale without the artists or publishers consent.

But these are not the only illegal activities taking place. More of these activities are:

- Spreading child pornography

- Illegal gambling

- Illegal selling of drugs

- Spamming email addresses

- Phishing (misleading users to think they are on another website)

- Propaganda for terroism, violence, etc.

These are only a few of the many types of offences that take place on the web. The anonymity of the internet makes it difficult for people to get caught while engaging in these illegal acts. The fact that the internet is a worldwide medium that gets used simultaneously by people that are located all over the world, adds to the already difficult circumstances. Countries do not always have appropriate laws regarding cybercrimes. Even when those laws are in place, it isn’t always clear when these are applicable. Nevertheless, people that are guilty of these crimes are being caught more often and laws of various countries are getting adapted to prevent these illegal acts from happening.

Enablers:

1. Annonimity on the Internet

2. Different laws in different countries

3. Laws are not addapted to cybercrimes

4. New technology makes it easier to take part in illegal activities

5. Lack of technical knowledge while dealing with these crimes

6. Userbase is spread through out the world

7. Easy way (and for many an appealing way) of earning money through the Internet

Inhibitors:

1. Laws are getting adapted to cybercrimes

2. People are gaining more knowledge on possibilities

3. Cybercrimes are being taken more seriously

Paradigms:

1. The Internet is getting out of hand and should be controlled better. Users should not be anonymous so that they can be better protected. Different countries should work together and exchange more information in an effort to prevent these activities from happening.

2. Cybercrimes should be treated as normal crimes. Laws should be adapted so that they can apply to these offences. There should be no changes to the way the Internet is but in the way these offences are handled.