Confronting cyber-crime.

• Author: Montes, Javier

GLOBAL COMPUTER viruses, the spread of child pornography, and even terrorist activities are a few examples of the many new, borderless Internet crimes that have become dangerous and difficult to police. With the advancement of digital technology in recent years, a new breed of criminals has emerged, leaving governments, businesses, and individuals exposed to these hazards.

Government experts from the OAS member states met in late June to discuss strategies and new proposals to increase hemispheric efforts in fighting the growing problem of cyber-crime.

Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, who inaugurated the two day meeting, said that given the international scope of the problem, "mutual judicial cooperation and assistance are vital to prevent, pursue, and punish Internet-based crime. He stressed that states should increase cooperation to overcome legal, technical, and other challenges.

"A computer keyboard can be a very useful tool for the progress of humanity, but it can also become a dangerous weapon capable of producing enormous economic damages to the infrastructure of a state or company, and even against the integrity and the life of human beings," Gaviria warned.

Leonard Bailey, a trial attorney with the Computer Crime mad intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, chaired the meeting, held at OAS headquarters. The experts produced a series of recommendations that will be submitted to the next meeting of the hemisphere's justice ministers...