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Law
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Essay
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:
Laws Regarding Police access to information
Essay Instructions:
The assignment should be between 2500 and 3000 words (not including footnotes and bibliography). Be sure to make every word count and avoid verbosity. Please include the word count on your cover page.
You should be very clear about what the problem is and why some groups see it as a problem. You should also very clearly, precisely and concisely identify the main elements of the legislative initiatives that you are assessing (e.g. what does legislation currently say on the matter, and how it might be changed). In your analysis, you can conclude, on the basis of careful assessment, that the legislative change is necessary and should be enacted, or that the existing legislative and legal framework is adequate, and that no change is necessary. In either event, you must clearly set out the criteria on which you are making your evaluation, and you must point to evidence, whether it is empirical, theoretical or logical in nature, drawn from reliable sources such as scholarly articles and treatises, reports of advocacy groups, consultant reports, advisory government reports and other relevant and authoritative sources. Your assessment may consider such issues as the feasibility of the proposal, its fairness, its potential effectiveness, its costs, its likely impact on efficiency, and any other matter that may be relevant. (Be sure to make clear what it is that you think is relevant.) It is important to consider both the arguments favouring legislative change as well as those which object to the change.
Citations to relevant cases, statutory provisions, articles, books, government documents, etc. should be provided in footnotes at the bottom of the page. There should also be a bibliography of all sources relied upon in writing the submission, appended to the end of the document.
you will be evaluated on the following criteria: Clear identification of
o the problem/issue
o how legislation might be framed to address the problem/issue o the adequacy of existing legal frameworks, and
o the opposing views on the issue;
Clear statement and explanation of the criteria on which the proposals will be evaluated;
Use of reliable and authoritative evidence to support analysis;
Persuasiveness of analysis;
Clear statement of a conclusion;
Logical structure, clarity of writing, and accuracy/consistency/completeness of references in both footnotes and bibliography.
Topic
Law enforcement officials want to facilitate investigation of crimes by being able to require, without a warrant, that telecommunication and internet service providers hand make available customers' email communications that are maintained on the providers' servers without a warrant. The law enforcement officials argue that since these communications are in the hands of third parties, the customers have no reasonable expectation of privacy. They advocate for the enactment of legislation clarifying that they do not need to obtain a warrant in order to get access to such information.
Essay Sample Content Preview:
LAWS REGARDING POLICE ACCESS TO INFORMATION
Name
Institution Affiliation
Course
Date of Submission
Laws Regarding Police access to information
Federal governments should pass internet surveillance and telecommunication bills so as to effectively fight crimes that are very rampant in cyber space and those concealed in telephone conversations. At the moment there are many limitations standing in the way of enforcement of law in the cyber world. Internet service providers and telephone services providers as responsible players in the economy should not be elements that abet such crimes as cyber bullying, peddling child pornography, and terrorism among others. Legislations that would grant the government appointed agencies, the requisite backing by law to enforce access to information and documents that are in possession of the telecommunication companies and internet providers without some warrant, criminal investigations or even judicial oversights.
To implement this effectively, the communication companies will have to make necessary installation of the surveillance technology and necessary software so that they can be able to monitor and collect internet communication and phone conversation for the government (Levinson, 2002) Getting classified information regarding the details of communication of suspected criminals is paramount for the sake of launching concrete prosecution`s evidence. Providers would be required to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies by ensuring that all information that is channeled through their systems is stored until need be, or where appropriate. Activities such as webmail, social media, internet phone calls and online gaming are avenues where serious crimes are perpetrated.
The existing law regarding police access to information is inadequate since the threshold , context and content espouses is limited. Data telecom firms are required to store such information for a period not exceeding twelve months. It encompasses all forms of communication ranging from webmail, social media networking, and voice call over internet, gaming as well phone calls. The ultimate weakness of the law is that though it includes the dates, the time, the duration, the originator as well as the recipient of that information, it fails to capture the content, the material and data being exchanged (Fitzgerald, 2010)
There is an urgent need to rethink and reframe the laws so that they can reflect the dynamism of communication to ensure that the police have unfettered access to the activities of online users. Legislation also needs to be updated regularly considering that technology has gone through so much evolution and the laws should likewise keep pace. Criminals are increasingly taking advantage of the intricate technology while government agencies stick to their conventional ways of accessing information, and thus running the risk of trying to keep up with the tech savvy criminal. Additionally, there is need for governments to have a global perspective on internet related crimes because crime is becoming global in nature. International cooperation aimed at developing tangible solutions should be implemented. Terrorism for instance is aided by inter-boarder communication and so states, as a part of their international obligations cannot underpin the need for international cooperation aimed at tackling high-tech crime that is facilitated by telecommunication and the internet.
The effectiveness of access to information cannot be underestimated, especially when it comes to dealing with matters that are of great threat to national security and other serious crimes. There are raft of successes out of legal access to information, such as conviction up to 90% of all cases, since information gotten from the internet service providers and telecommunication companies is admissible in a court of law. It has also led to many arrests of hundreds of criminals as well as solution of 11 murder cases, in 2008, in 2010, a drug howl worth a million dollars was netted and an international importation syndicated stopped.
Disclosure of information is seen as very controversial, and has come under virulent criticism from many quarters. Those who object the unwarranted police access to information cite the prohibition by law for an ISP or communication companies to disclose the personal information of the subscriber without their consent, and knowledge, accept in special circumstances like where they have been subpoenaed by a court of law. A subscriber and the provider are bound by a contract whose details are on matters confidentiality, and other terms, and once there is a breach of any kind on the side of the provider, the law grants the subscriber the right to launch an action in a court of law, however such contracts at most prevent one from voluntarily disclosures by the ISPs but a court order however supersedes any such contract. The subscriber can also challenge disclosure, by advising his or her provider to withhold any disclosure pending a restraining order from the court.
Other concerns raised in regards to access to information without a warranty is that such moves are tantamount to infringement of people`s privacy, the assumption by the government law enforcement agencies powerful interception capabilities has also been seen as having a a bearing on violation of human rights by the orchestrated police and intelligence forces.
One other element of police access to information is phone tapping which has been used successfully by intelligence forces to make major headways into crime investigations and subsequent arrests. Companies that provide internet services in the US have been compelled by the FBI to make their systems easy for them to hack or tap. The FBI is therefore in a position to secretly listen to your telephone conversations; noncompliance can lead to a daily fine of 10,000 dollars. Tapping of people conversation has wielded much in the wading off of terrorism activities. It has been documented that John Gotti, the Teflon don was netted through phone tapping by the FBI. Another milestone was the indictment and eventual conviction of Scott Peterson, for the crime of passion, the murder of his wife.
Since police do not have the capacity to keep up with the technology that keeps changing invariably, in 1994, Justice Department and the FBI made legislation that allows communication companies to configure their systems in such a way that tapping will be possible. Initially that piece of legislation did not include voice over internet protocol, but in 2004, the law expanded to cover VoIP calls. This law, that has a strict deadline of enforcement by the VoIP ...
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