Introduction
Computer laws are legal aspects related to issues of copyright, security of information and patent of computers. There are several computer laws but this paper will discuss Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the Florida Criminal Use of Personal Identification Information laws, discussing penalty levels, of each law, whether they are clear and specific and whether the penalty levels are appropriate for law breakers. Lastly, the paper will recommend one law modification to put off the crimes.
Penalty level of Computer laws
According to reported that laws in Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 are divided into 7 paragraphs with categories of with intent, without authorization, affecting use, and jurisdiction. Penalty levels include imprisonment for up to one year or be fined up to $100,000 for whoever trespasses in a government computer, and resulting in exposure to government information, causes damage of a government, a bank computers, or for foreign use, and who is trafficking in passwords for computers. The other penalty level is of imprisonment for up to 10 years or a fee of up to $250,000 for all subsequent convictions causing damage and for whoever accesses a computer to commit espionage. Lastly is penalty level of imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fee of up to $250,000. This is for whoever commits fraud which involves unauthorized access to computers and also who threatens to damage computers.
According to the Florida Criminal Use of Personal Identification Information laws have three penalty levels. reported that first level is imprisonment for up to 1 year or a fine up to $1,000 for whoever uses personal identification information concerning an individual without his/her consent or the purpose of harassment. The other penalty level is of imprisonment of up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to $5,000 for whoever uses information for fraud, and lastly, is imprisonment of 3 to 15 years or a fee up $10,000 for that uses information concerning a minor. The felonies differ according to how much an offender benefits for gain.
Discussion
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 laws do apply in United States and not in a foreign country, so they are not clear if a hacker is not in U.S. Florida Criminal Use of Personal Identification Information laws states laws governing personal use of information. Florida laws vary in terms of value gained by the offender while Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 law does not vary also; these laws are, appropriately, rated for level of crime.
Recommendation
The paper recommends that the laws should be amended to have exceptionally high penalties for those who break even minor laws while highest for outstanding laws break. The laws should state that the laws apply to every law breaker everywhere in the world in order to put off hackers who break the laws.
References
Doyle, C. (2010, September 22). Cybercrime: An Overview of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Statute and Related Federal Criminal Laws. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/cioprod/documents/ComputerFraud-AbuseAct.pdf
Florida. (2007). Florida Identity Theft Ranking by State. Florida: ID Safety.
