Computer Crimes Law -- Professor William C. Snyder

Law 759, Computer Crimes Law
Syracuse University College of Law course for Spring 2008

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Law 759
Computer Crimes
Syracuse University College of Law
Visiting Assistant Professor William C. Snyder
Spring 2009

Course Description:

This three-credit course is organized around three questions:

1) what conduct involving a computer is prohibited by criminal law?

2) What legal rules govern the collection of digital evidence in criminal investigations?

3) What powers do state, national, and foreign governments have to investigate and prosecute computer crimes?

More specifically, topics will include computer hacking, computer viruses, encryption, online undercover operations, the Fourth Amendment in cyberspace, the law of Internet surveillance, laws governing access to e-mail, forum-shopping, jurisdiction, national security, and federal-state relations and international cooperation in the enforcement of computer crime laws. Special attention will be paid to cyber terrorism.

In addition, the course uses these topics to examine how legal regimes respond to rapid technological and societal change.

One of the goals of the course is to acquire experience working with statutes and regulations, in addition to the more traditional appellate court opinions used in most law school courses.

No advanced knowledge of computers and the Internet is required or assumed. This is primarily a lecture course and not a seminar.

Required Reading:

The primary text is Kerr, Orin, Computer Crime Law (West, 2006) and its 2008 Supplement. The Supplement is available only as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. More materials will be provided in class. All required readings are essential. Supplemental readings will be available for anyone who wants to delve into a subject more deeply. Anything projected during class will be available on the course websites.

Audio Recording:

All lectures will be digitally recorded. Audio files of at least the key lectures will be posted on the course web site. In the past, I have provided CD’s of the lectures to students upon request, and I expect to continue that practice. Typically, I use MP3 format, but I can convert to M4U or several others. You are welcome to make your own recordings of class, if you prefer.

Assignments:

Unless otherwise indicated, assigned pages are from Kerr, Orin, Computer Crime Law (West, 2006). “Supp.” refers to the 2008 Supplement to Computer Crime Law. Citations to statutes in parentheses immediately below the page assignments are citations to statutes you should read along with the assignment. The statutes are found in the statutory supplement reprinted as an Appendix, found in the casebook on pages 667-751.

All documents and linked files are available only to enrolled members of the course with a current user name and password.

Lesson	Topic	Assignment
1 – 1/12/09	Introduction to Computer Misuse in class PowerPoint audio file of lecture, here (MP3)	1-13 (largely did not reach)
2 – 1/13/09	The Property-Based Approach to Computer Misuse audio file	1-27
3 – 1/15/09	Introduction to 18 U.S.C. 1030 and the Meaning of “Access” audio file of lecture in class handout	27-45 (18 U.S.C. § 1030)
4 – 1/20/09	The Meaning of Authorization: Code and Contract Approaches audio file	46-64
5 – 1/22/09	Norms Approaches to Authorization and Computer Fraud Crimes audio file	64-83, Supp. 2-5 (18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(4))
6 – 1/26/09	Computer Damage Statutes chart used in class audio file	83-98 (18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5))
7 – 1/27/09	More on Computer Damage Statutes, and Review of Section 1030 audio file Recent amendments to Section 1030, available here.	99-107 (18 U.S.C. § 1030)
8 – 1/29/09	Property Crimes to Protect Economic Interests Online audio file	108-120 (18 U.S.C. § 1343, 2314)
9 – 2/2/09	The Economic Espionage Act, Identity Theft, and Introduction to Copyright audio file	121-140 (18 U.S.C. § 1831, 1832, 1839) (also, skim 18 U.S.C. §1028 & 1029)
10 – 2/3/09	Extra Day on Identity Theft audio file	repeat assignment
11 – 2/5/09	Criminal Copyright Law audio file	141-158 (18 U.S.C. § 2319, 17 U.S.C. §506 – note, they are reprinted together in Appendix)
12 – 2/10/09	Online Threats and Harassment audio file	159-178 (18 U.S.C. § 875, 2261A, and skim 47 U.S.C. § 223 reprinted at 742-47)
13 – 2/12/09	Internet Gambling audio file of lecture	180-93, Supp. 6-9 (18 U.S.C. § 1084)
14 – 2/16/09	Obscenity audio file of lecture	193-210 (18 U.S.C. § 1462, 1465)
15 – 2/17/09	Child Pornography Crimes: Receipt, Distribution, and Possession of Digital Contraband audio file of lecture	211-33; on pages 224-29, replace United States v. Tucker with Supp. 10-11 (18 U.S.C. § 2252, 2252A)
16 – 2/23/09	Virtual Child Pornography audio file of lecture	233-49, Supp. 11-12 (18 U.S.C. § 2252A, 2256)
17 – 2/24/09	Traveler Cases and Online Entrapment audio file of lecture	249-263 (18 U.S.C. § 2422, 2423)
18 – 2/26/09	Sentencing Computer Crimes and the Federal Guidelines audio file of lecture	264-84
19 – 3/05/09	More on Sentencing, and Supervised Release Restrictions Involving Computers audio file of lecture	284-297
20 – 3/16/09	Introduction to the Fourth Amendment, and What Is A “Search”? audio file.	298-316
21 – 3/17/06	Data Seizures and the Consent Exception audio file of lecture	316-335
22 – 3/19/09 & next for double class	Search Incident to Arrest, Border Searches, and Government Workplace Searches of Computers audio file of lecture	335-351, Supp 13-24
23 - 3/19/09	Warrants to Search and Seize Computers: Probable Cause and Particularity audio file of lecture	352-371
24 – 3/24/09	Executing Warrants to Obtain Digital Evidence Audio file of lecture.	372 -390 (end of note 5)
25 – 3/26/09	The Fourth Amendment in a Networked Environment, Part 1 audio file of lecture	394-412
26 - 3/26/08 & next for double class	The Fourth Amendment in a Networked Environment, Part 2 audio file of lecture.	413-33 (end of n.7); on pages 423-27 and 438-442, replace Guest v. Leis and United States v. Barr with Supp. 24-42.
27 – 3/30/09	The Fourth Amendment in a Networked Environment, Part 3 audio file of lecture	433-45; on pages 423-27 and 438-442, replace Guest v. Leis and United States v. Barr with Supp. 24-42.
28 – 3/31/09	Introduction to the Wiretap Act audio file of lecture	446-463 (18 U.S.C. § 2510, 2511, 2515)
29 – 4/06/09	The Consent Exception and the Provider Exception audio file of lecture	463-479 (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2))
30 – 4/07/09	More on the Provider Exception, and the Trespasser Exception Audio file of lecture.	479-487 (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2))
31 – 4/9/09	The Pen Register Statute audio file of lecture	488-500 (18 U.S.C. § 3121 through §3127)
32 – 4/9/09	Introduction to the Stored Communications Act audio file of lecture	500-19, Supp 43-44 (18 U.S.C. § 2701,§ 2703, §2708, § 2711)
33 – 4/13/09	More on the Stored Communications Act, and Overview of Chapter 6 Supplemental readings: Article on The Fourth Amendment Status of Stored E-mail, arguing that the Constitution provides protections beyond SCA. Blog entry of Professor Kerr defending traditional 3rd party records doctrine for stored email.	519-31 (18 U.S.C. § 2702)
34 – 4/14/09	Federalism and Computer Crime Law: Limits on Federal Authority audio file of lesson 34	532-550
35 – 4/16/09	Federalism and Computer Crime Law: Limits on State Authority (cont.) audio file of lecture	554-575
36 - 4/20/09	International Computer Crimes audio file of lecture	576-596
37 – cyber	Mutual Legal Assistance and Treaties audio file on lecture was distributed on CD.	599-613, Supp. 45-50, skim 614-19
38 – 4/27/09	National Security and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act audio file of lecture	630 to the top of 640, and middle of 646 through the middle of 655, Supp. 51
39 – 4/28/09	FISA (cont.) audio file of lecture is not available.	Handout (actual text of FISA, as amended)
40 – 4/29/09	FISA 2008 Amendments audio file of lecture	Handout
~~41 – 4/29/09~~ ~~???????~~	~~Offensive Cyber Security~~ ~~audio file of lecture~~	~~Handout to be provided.~~
~~42 – 4/28/09~~	~~Exam review~~ ~~audio file of lecture~~ ~~Sample exams of similar format but different subject matter:~~ ~~One~~ ~~another~~ ~~a 3rd.~~
May 12, 2009, 1:30 p.m.	EXAM instructions for 2008 exam. table of contents of statutory supplement that will be distributed with the exam.

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