Book Review: Computer Crimes and Digital Investigations
| Author | Sally Ramage |
| DOI | 10.1350/jcla.2008.72.1.479 |
| Published date | 01 February 2008 |
| Date | 01 February 2008 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK REVIEW
Ian Walden, Computer Crimes and Digital Investigations
(Oxford University Press: USA, 2007)
ISBN-13: 978-0199290987, 536 pp, US$ 140
Computer Crimes and Digital Investigations by Professor Ian Walden is a
scholarly law book of nearly 600 pages on the subject of intellectual
property law, expert evidence, computer law and criminal law. It
contains just seven chapters, namely, an introduction to the subject;
cybercrime; criminal procedure and cyber-forensics; jurisdiction and
harmonisation; evidential issues and computer crimes. It covers the laws
of the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand and
the USA.
Walden cites 256 UK cases, a surprising amount, which suggests that
the subject of computer crime is more mature than is generally thought.
It is pleasing to see that the UK is not being left behind in this sector of
law and the legislation referred to in the book includes the British
Telecommunications Act 1981, the Computer Misuse Act 1990; the
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; the Sexual Offences Act
2003; the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005; the Companies
Act 2006; the Fraud Act 2006; the Identity Cards Act 2006; the Police
and Justice Act 2006; the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations
2003 and the Wireless Telegraphy (Exemption) Regulations 2003.
The book examines the criminal code as it relates to computer-related
crimes. It deals with computer integrity offences; criminal procedure
regarding the investigation of enforcement agencies using computers;
and the law of evidence, which Walden compares with other countries’
laws of evidence and international instruments such as the 1996
UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce and the 1996 WIPO
Copyright Treaty.
Walden explains content-related crimes at length and states that
when considering content-related crimes, acts carried out in relation to
certain subject-matter need to be distinguished from the actual subject
matter itself. He warns about glibly classifying certain subject-matter as
illegal and emphasises that illegality depends on questions of causation.
He identifies three categories of content-related crimes: intellectual
property, pornography and communications crimes.
Then there are computer integrity offences such as hacking and
distributing viruses. These computer integrity offences are identified as
offences of access, modification and interception. As to interception,
Walden explains how the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
works and describes two offences under the Act, i.e. the offence of
intentionally intercepting communications without lawful authority
and using public and private communications systems, both offences
carrying prison sentences. With regard to terrorism, the author explains
87The Journal of Criminal Law (2008) 72 JCL 87–88
doi:1350/jcla.2008.72.1.479
To continue reading
Request your trial