COE CYBERCRIME

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002200

SIPDIS

PASS TO L/LEI, EUR/PGI, AND DOJ/CCIPS.

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KJUS KCRM ECON ETRD FR COE
SUBJECT: COE CYBERCRIME


1. Summary. The first meeting of the Council of Europe's
Cybercrime Convention Committee took place March 20-21,

2006. The United States (Betty Shave, U.S. Department of
Justice) was selected as vice-chair of the meeting. The key
achievement of the meeting was adoption of an interpretation
of the Convention that makes clear that it is meant to cover
crimes committed using developing forms of technology, such
as mobile phones and personal digital assistants, that allow
access to the Internet and otherwise perform computer-like
functions. The Council of Europe Secretariat, backed by the
United States delegation, resisted calls to offer amendments
or protocols to the Convention. The Committee will meet
again in 2007.


2. The Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime entered
into force in 2004. Presently there are 12 parties and 30
other signatories. The United States signed the Convention
in 2001 and a resolution of ratification is pending in the
United States Senate. The Council of Europe convened this
meeting under Article 46 of the Convention, which provides
that the parties shall consult periodically to facilitate
the effective implementation of the Convention, the exchange
of information on significant developments pertaining to
cybercrime, and the consideration of possible amendment of
the Convention.


3. Prominent on the agenda for the meeting were suggestions
for possible amendments or protocols to the Convention,
including a suggestion that the Convention needed to be
amended to cover crimes committed using mobile telephones,
and suggestions by Russia that (1) Article 32 of the
Convention -- which permits a party to access computer data
stored in another party with the consent of a person with
lawful access to the data -- should be amended to prohibit
such access without the state's consent; and (2) an
additional protocol to the Convention should be considered
to cover "cyberterrorism." The United States opposes all of
these efforts as unnecessary or inappropriate.


4. With respect to mobile telephones, the Committee adopted
an interpretation, memorialized in the meeting minutes (COE
document T-CY (2006) 11),stating that the term "computer
system" in the Convention includes developing forms of
technology such as modern mobile telephones that have among
their functions the capacity to produce, process, and
transmit data, such as accessing the Internet and sending
email. In light of this interpretation, the United States
requested the removal of a working paper prepared by members
of the Secretariat prior to the conference that suggested
that an amendment to the Convention might be necessary to
address various forms of child exploitation, such as
transmission of child pornography and/or enticement of
children by sexual predators ("grooming") using mobile
telephones. The Secretariat agreed to withdraw and revise
the paper (with the assistance of the United States
delegation) to emphasize how the Convention can be used to
help combat these problems.


5. With respect to Russia's suggestions, the United States
delegation was able to persuade both the Council of Europe
Secretariat and several other key delegations that it was

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too soon to consider amendments to the Convention. The
Secretariat effectively removed these items from the agenda.

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Although Russia made brief presentations on each of its
proposals, the Committee did not consider them.


6. Although not yet a party, the United States was asked by
the parties to be vice chair of the committee, due to the
United States' extensive experience in the field. It was
clear that the United States would have been asked to chair
the meeting if it were already a party.


7. The Council of Europe Secretariat made clear that its
goal was that all states of the world could become parties
to the Convention. (In a related matter, a representative
of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime stated that
her office was no longer pressing for a separate Convention
on the topic.) The COE described interest in the Convention
among states in various regions, including the Americas,
Africa, and Asia. Ten states, including the United States,
Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, indicated an intent
to become parties to the Convention within the next 1-2
years. Russia indicated it would soon sign the Convention.


8. The COE, Interpol, and the United States made
presentations on technical assistance being provided to
countries around the world in the field of cybercrime.


9. The Committee decided to hold its next meeting in 2007,
if possible before the 2007 meeting of the European
Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC). The CDPC is to conduct
a review of the Convention at its 2007 plenary meeting,
tentatively scheduled for June of that year.


10. This message was drafted by the United States
delegation to the Committee.


STAPLETON