Distributed security: a new model of law enforcement

摘要

This article explains how cyberspace and related technologies erode the effectiveness of our current model of law enforcement. "Law enforcement" is the process we use to maintain order in society; law enforcement deals with crime, which is activity that threatens social order. "Crime" encompasses a wide variety of conduct: It includes the crimes against persons (rape, assault, murder) and crimes against property (fraud, arson, theft) that have plagued societies throughout history, as well as newer crimes against the state (riot, treason, sabotage) and against morality (gambling, drugs, obscenity). While it traditionally dealt only with internal disorder, crime has come to include activities that implicate a society's relations with other societies; economic espionage and terrorism are examples of non-traditional crimes. The problem we must confront as to cybercrime lies not with our ability to define particular types of conduct as criminal. It lies with our ability to enforce these definitions.