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Should virtual cybercrime be regulated by means of criminal law? A philosophical, legal-economic, pragmatic and constitutional dimension

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 23; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13600834.2014.891870

1469-8404

Litska Strikwerda,

Ethics and Social Impacts of AI

AbstractThis paper will be about the question of whether or not virtual cybercrime should be regulated by means of criminal law. By virtual cybercrime I mean activities such as the stealing of virtual property or the killing of an avatar (a player's virtual representation) within the virtual worlds of computer games. One can, for example, also think of the production, distribution and possession of virtual child pornography, which does not consist of photographs or film material of real children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, but of computer-simulated children; for the images are photo-shopped or even entirely computer-generated. As the title indicates, I believe that the aforementioned question has at least four dimensions: a philosophical, a legal-economic, a pragmatic and a constitutional dimension. In this paper, I will study each of these dimensions and on the basis of my analyses I will establish criteria for the criminalization of virtual cybercrime which can be used to decide on actual cases.Keywords: virtual (cyber-)crimecriminalizationregulation AcknowledgementsI would like to thank Philip Brey and Johnny Søraker for their useful comments.Notes1Convention on Cybercrime (adopted 23 November 2001, entered into force 1 July 2004) CETS No.: 185 art 9 (2) c.2Ibid. Expl. Report § 101.3Rechtbank Amsterdam, 2 April 2009, ECLI: NL: RBAMS: 2009: BH9789, BH9790, BH9791.4Gerechtshof Leeuwarden, 10 November 2009, ECLI: NL: GHLEE: 2009: BK2773, BK2764.5Hoge Raad, 31 January 2012, ECLI: NL: HR: 2012: BQ9251.6-- 'Jilted Woman "Murdered Avatar"' Sky News (23 October 2008) accessed 1 February 2014.7LHC Hulsman, 'Kriteria voor strafbaarstelling' in D. Chapman and others (eds), Strafrecht Terecht? over Dekriminalisering en Depenalisering (Uitgeverij In den Toren, Baarn 1972); Douglas Husak, 'Criminal Law Theory' in Martin P Golding and William A. Edmundson (eds), The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory (Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken 2004) 112–15.8David R. Koepsell, The Ontology of Cyberspace: Philosophy, Law, and Intellectual Property (Open Court Publishing Company, Peru, IL 2003) 33–4.9HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1961).10Ronald M. Dworkin, 'Is Law a System of Rules?' in Robert S. Summers (ed), Essays in Legal Philosophy (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles 1976).11Patrick Devlin, The Enforcement of Morals (OUP, 1965).12Joel Feinberg, The Moral Limits of Criminal Law, Volume One, Harm to Others (OUP, 1984); Joel Feinberg, The Moral Limits of Criminal Law, Volume Two, Offense to Others (OUP, 1985); Joel Feinberg, The Moral Limits of Criminal Law, Volume Three, Harm to Self (OUP, 1986); Joel Feinberg, The Moral Limits of Criminal Law, Volume Four, Harmless Wrongdoing (OUP, 1988).13Roger Bowles, Michael Faure and Nuno Garoupa, 'The Scope of Criminal Law and Criminal Sanctions: An Economic View and Policy Implications' (2008) 35 (3) Journal of Law and Society 389; Douglas Husak, Overcriminalization: The Limits of Criminal Law (OUP, 2008); Richard Posner, 'An Economic Theory of Criminal Law' (1985) 85 (6) Columbia Law Review 1193.14Bowles, Faure & Garoupa (n 13) 395.15Husak (n 7) 115–16.16Jonathan Clough, Principles of Cybercrime (CUP, 2010).17JH Søraker, The Value of Virtual Worlds and Entities. A Philosophical Analysis of Virtual Worlds and their Potential Impact on Well-Being (Ipskamp, Enschede 2010).18Philip Brey, 'The Physical and Social Reality of Virtual Worlds' in M. Grimshaw (ed), The Oxford Handbook of Virtuality (OUP, 2014) 49.19Søraker (n 17) 137.20Gambling Act 2003 § 19 (1) (a).21Søraker (n 17) 33–34.22Convention on Cybercrime (n 1), Expl. Report § 101.23Ibid art 9 (2) c.24Ibid. List of declarations.25Wetboek van Strafrecht art 254a.26Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 s 63 (7).27 Habbo (n 3).28Sulake, 'Habbo' < http://www.habbo.nl>; accessed 1 February 2014.29 Habbo (n 3).30 RuneScape (n 4).31 RuneScape (n 5).32Jagex Ltd, 'RuneScape' accessed 1 February 2014.33 RuneScape (n 4); (n 5).34 RuneScape (n 5) Concl. Adv. Gen.35Julian Dibbell, 'A Rape in Cyberspace/How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society' The Village Voice (23 December 1993) accessed 1 February 2014.36 -- 'Jilted Woman "Murdered Avatar"' (n 6).37Feinberg (n 12).38John R Searle, Making the Social World. The Structure of Human Civilization (OUP, 2010).3918 USC § 1111.40The terms 'actus reus' and 'mens rea' derive specifically from Anglo-American jurisprudence. But these elements are, although under a different name, also found in other legal systems.41Cf. JH Søraker, 'Virtual Worlds and their Challenge to Philosophy: Understanding the "Intravirtual" and the "Extravirtual" ' (2012) 43 (4) Metaphilosophy 499.42In the future, the element of mens rea will not necessarily concern the mental state of a human actor anymore, since autonomous, learning machines, based on neural networks, genetic algorithms and agent architectures will be capable of having a mens rea of their own (Cf. Andreas Matthias, 'The Responsibility Gap: Ascribing Responsibility for the Actions of Learning Automata' (2004) 6 Ethics and Information Technology 175). When such a machine will be a part of a virtual (reality) environment, the element of mens rea can be satisfied intravirtually as well. Since this paper focuses on computer-simulated human acts and human acts made possible by computer simulation, the intravirtual mens rea is beyond its scope, however.43Cf. Brey (n 18) 49.44Susan W. Brenner, 'Fantasy Crime: The Role of Criminal Law in Virtual Worlds' (2008) 11(1) Vanderbilt Journal Of Entertainment And Technology Law 1; Orin S. Kerr, 'Criminal Law in Virtual Worlds' (2008) University of Chicago Legal Forum; GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 391 accessed 1 February 2014; Gregory Lastowka and Dan Hunter, 'Virtual Crime' (2004) 49 New York Law School Review 293 accessed 1 February 2014.45-- 'Second Life Seclimine VB Sample' accessed 1 February 2014.46Cf. Brey (n 18) 49–50.47Convention on Cybercrime (n 1) art 4.48It should probably be added that this already constitutes a crime in itself and that the woman could, therefore, also be held liable for hacking (in the sense of illegal access): Convention on Cybercrime (n 1) art 2.49Jeffrie G. Murphy and Jules L. Coleman, Philosophy of Law: An Introduction to Jurisprudence (Westview Press Inc., Boulder 1990) 12,15.50Hart (n 9).51Dworkin (n 10).52Devlin (n 11).53Feinberg (n 12).54Ibid.55Ibid (1st) 14–15.56Ibid (4th) 323.57JS Mill, On Liberty (Green and Co London, Longmans 1865).58Feinberg (n 12 1st) 33–34.59Ibid 215.60Ibid 34–37.61Ibid 11, 63–64; Marc D. Goodman and Susan W. Brenner, 'The Emerging Consensus on Criminal Conduct in Cyberspace' (2002) 10 International Journal of Law and Information 139, 178.62Feinberg (n 12 1st) 189.63Nils Holtug, 'The Harm Principle' (2002) 5 Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 357, 366.64Feinberg (n 12 1st) 50.65Feinberg (n 12 2nd) 1–2.66Ibid 23.67Ibid 35, 44, 49.68Feinberg (n 12 1st) 13.69John Weckert, 'Offence on the Internet' in Göran Collste (ed), Ethics in the Age of Information Technology (Centre for Applied Ethics, Linköping 2000).70Ibid 108–09.71Ibid 116–17.72Feinberg (n 12 3rd) 4.73Gerald Dworkin, 'Paternalism' (1972) 56 The Monist 64.74Feinberg (n 12 1st) 8.75Feinberg (n 12 3rd) 21–22.76Feinberg (n 12 4th) 3.77Ibid 4.78Ibid 8.79Devlin (n 11) 7.80Ibid 10.81Feinberg (n 12 1st) 13.82Litska Strikwerda, 'Virtual Child Pornography Why Images Do Harm from a Moral Perspective' in Charles Ess and May Thorseth (eds), Trust and Virtual Worlds Contemporary Perspectives (Peter Lang Publishing, New York 2011); Litska Strikwerda, 'Theft of Virtual Items in Online Multiplayer Computer Games: An Ontological and Moral Analysis' (2012) 14 (2) Ethics and Information Technology 89; Litska Strikwerda, 'When Should Virtual Cybercrime Be Brought under the Scope of Criminal Law?' in Marcus K. Rogers and Kathryn C. Seigfried-Spellar (eds), Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime (LNICST), Vol. 114 (Springer-Verlag, Berlin 2013).83Erik Van Beek, 'Het beest in ons: over fatsoen en bestialiteit' (2011) 35 Tijdschrift voor Seksuologie 89, 89.84Ibid 91.85Ibid 90.86Feinberg (n 12 4th) 15.87Hulsman (n 7) 89–90.88The ontology of virtual cybercrime seems to have an all-or-nothing character: from an ontological point of view a virtual cybercrime either has an extravirtual consequence legitimating its criminalization or not.89It was explained in Section 3.2 that, to my knowledge, no writer in legal philosophy denies the validity of the harm principle as a good and relevant reason in support of a penal provision and most writers acknowledge the offense principle as well, but legal paternalism and especially legal moralism are contested.90David Young (tr), Cesare Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishments (Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis 1986).91Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (Prometheus Books, New York 1988 [1789]).92Cf. e.g. Posner (n 13) p 1193; Gary Becker, 'Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach' (1968) 76 The Journal of Political Economy 169, 209.93Julia Driver, 'The History of Utilitarianism' (27 March 2009) accessed 1 February 2014.94Beccaria (n 90); Bentham (n 91); Posner (n 13); Geraldine Szott Moohr, 'Defining Overcriminalization Through Cost-Benefit Analysis: The Example of Criminal Copyright Laws' (2005) 54 American University Law Review, 783, 786.95Becker (n 92).96Moohr (n 94) 787.97Bowles, Faure & Garoupa (n 13) 395.98Ibid 398, 407.99Posner (n 13) 1214.100Darryl K. Brown, 'Cost-Benefit Analysis in Criminal Law' (2004) 92(2) California Law Review 323, 325, 343.101Mark A. Cohen, 'Cyber Crime' in Nuno Garoupa (ed), Criminal Law and Economics (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham 2009) 360.102Brown (n 100) 345–48.103Cohen (n 101) 357.104Bowles, Faure & Garoupa (n 13) 398.105Ibid 403; Brown (n 100) 325.106Posner (n 13) 1202; Husak (n 7) 112.107Husak (n 7) 113; Posner (n 13) 1204; Bowles, Faure & Garoupa (n 13) 411.108Bowles, Faure & Garoupa (n 13) 400.109Brown (n 100) 325.110Bowles, Faure & Garoupa (n 13) 402.111Bowles, Faure & Garoupa (n 13) 406; Posner (n 13) 1205; Anthony Ogus, 'Criminal Law and Regulation' in Nuno Garoupa (ed), Criminal Law and Economics (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham 2009) 94.112Brown (n 100) 325.113Jean Hamtpon, 'The Moral Education of Punishment' (1984) 13(3) Philosophy & Public Affairs 208.114Ibid; Moohr (n 94) 796.115Brown (n 100) 325.116Bowles, Faure & Garoupa (n 13) 411.117Dibbell (n 35).118Feinberg (n 12 1st) 189.119Holtug (n 63) 366.120Weckert (n 69).121Feinberg (n 12 3rd) 21–22.122Ibid 23.123According to Feinberg this is somewhere between 10,000 persons and 10% of the whole population (see quote), but I assume the starting point depends on the size of the population.124Todd David Marcus, 'Fostering Creativity in Virtual Worlds: Easing the Restrictiveness of Copyright for User-Created Content' (2007/2008) 52 New York Law School Law Review 67, 72–75.125Trey Hickman and Kristin E. Hickman, 'The Myth of the Magic Circle: Rejecting a Single Governance Model' (2012) 2(2) UC Irvine Law Review 537, 539.126Cf. e.g. Terms of Service (ToS) of Second Life; Terms and Conditions of RuneScape.127Ibid.128Strikwerda (n 82 2nd) 92.129I have not included the extra considerations for criminalization that apply when a virtual cybercrime is committed within the virtual environment of a computer game and the rules of the game are thus an alternative for regulation via criminal law, because, as was explained above, they overlap with the criteria as established here and in Section 3.3.130Clough (n 16) 5.131Goodman & Brenner (n 61) 150.132Clough (n 16) 5.133Goodman & Brenner (n 61) 151.134Peter van Ammelrooy, 'Hackers richten bloedbad aan in World of Warcraft' Volkskrant (8 October 2012) accessed 2 February 2014.135Clough (n 16) 5.136Will Knight, 'Computer Characters Mugged in Virtual Crime Spree' NewScientist (18 August 2005) accessed 2 February 2014.137Clough (n 16) 5.138Convention on Cybercrime (n 1) Expl. Report § 4.139Clough (n 16) 5.140Convention on Cybercrime (n 1) Expl. Report § 93, 102.141Jason Farrell, 'Pedophiles Target Virtual World' Sky News (31 October 2007) accessed 1 February 2014.142Clough (n 16) 6–7.143Ibid 250.144Ibid 7.145Convention on Cybercrime (n 1) Expl. Report § 107.146Clough (n 16) 247–49.147Goodman & Brenner (n 61) 143.148Clough (n 16) 7.149Ibid 406–07.150Ibid 411.151Ibid 414.152Ibid 416.153Ibid 7–8.154Goodman & Brenner (n 61) 157.155Wetboek van Strafvordering arts 167 and 242.156-- 'The Role of the Public Prosecutor in Court' accessed 1 February 2014.157Husak (n 7) 115.158Ibid 116.159Ibid.160Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights, as amended) (ECHR), e.g. art 10 (2).161Husak (n 7) 117.162Ibid 118.163Feinberg (n 12 3rd) 323.164Child Pornography Prevention Act (CCPA) 1996.165 Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234 2002.166Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act (PROTECT ACT) 2003.167Respectively: 18 USC § 2256 (8) and 18 USC § 2252A.168PROTECT Act, 108th Congress of the United States of America, 7 January 2003, ss 501 (10) and (14).169553 U.S. 285 (2008).170Husak (n 7) 119.171Ibid.