White House wants international cybercrime treaty through

In a letter to the US Senate,President Bushhas called for the ratification of the Council of Europe's international Convention on cybercrime, describing it as "an effective tool" and "the only multilateral treaty to address the problems of computer-related crime." In the view of the White House, the treaty would be instrumental in establishing international criminal standards relating to issues such as child pornography or infringements of copyright. He also said that it would also prove useful in the war against terrorism by helping to deny "safe havens to criminals, including terrorists, who can cause damage to US interests from abroad, using computer systems."

But civil liberties and industry organisations alike have so far opposed the treaty because in their view, it "goes way beyond combating cybercime." TheAmerican Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)said the treaty would require signatory countries to adopt "all sorts of intrusive surveillance measures." Their fears are partly fuelled by a last-minute addition to the treaty, discussed in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks, that would help to "identify, how to filter and how to trace communications between terrorists." The Council of Europe is reported to have recognised that such an addendum had been tabled but it has not been retained in the final text of the treaty.

The Convention is the first international treaty on crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks, dealing particularly with infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security. So far only Albania, Croatia and Estonia have ratified it.