CYBER STALKING
Society has developed and expanded throughout the centuries as new technologies have emerged, in particular the internet. The internet has evolved so quickly that it is becoming easier and cheaper to access throughout the world. Due to this rapidly expanding modern communication, crime, also known as cybercrime has become more evident. An element of cybercrime that is emerging on the internet is cyberstalking. Cyberstalking is found to be similar to traditional stalking as it uses a number of the same means, but is different to the way that the internet is used for the means to stalk its victims. Another difficulty with technology advancing so rapidly is that legislation is struggling to keep up with these new forms of crime. Current laws do not address this problem appropriately and they don’t protect users of the internet from these crimes.
Stalking has been claimed to occur because of a variety of reasons, the main being that there is some sort of infatuation with the victim. Other reasons include stalkers wanting to re-establish a broken relationship or institute a romance or friendship in some way with their victim. (Stalking 2005, p.2) Stalking has also been claimed to occur because of a creation of certain environments and in consequence cyberstalking came about as it is an occurrence of the internet and its environment. (Grodinzinsky & Tavani in Richard, A.S, and Herman, T.T 2004, p.561). There is although, disagreement that the internet has led to the rise of stalking cases. Mark Zwillinger, an employee of a legal team of computer crimes believes that a nasty email can be sent so quickly and easily that they may not even be a stalker. He believes that the internet is just a way to change their means and that it is not to be blamed. (Cyberstalking rears its head in the workforce, 2001, p.1)
Cyberstalking has many different methods in which depend on a particular part of the internet that is being exploited. The methods are:
-Email stalking,
-Internet stalking, and
-Computer stalking.
Email stalking is a way in which there is communication through using emails. Internet stalking is using global communication through the internet and computer stalking is using someone else’s computer under unauthorized control. (Ogilvie 2000, p.2) Cyberstalking is becoming easier for offenders as they have access to all the personal details of individuals on the internet. A study conducted by David Huffaker of Northwestern University showed that out of 68 random weblogs produced by teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17, many had revealed their actual names, ages and offline locations. (Teen bloggers at risk for cyberstalking and cyberbullying 2006, p.1)
The most common form of cyber stalking, which is measured as the least threatening, is unwanted emails. These may begin as a few misdirected comments at the victim but could then escalate to a number of emails being sent daily. Other forms can include spamming (sending large quantities of unwanted mail) and sending viruses (Ogilvie 2000, p.4). Online threats are another form of stalking and many see them as some type of prank. Sometimes though if treated the wrong way it can soon turn into a very serious matter and more acts of stalking can occur. Such acts may include; identity theft, damage to data or equipment, transmission of threats, computer monitoring and the solicitation of sexual purposes” (Calson analytics, 2006 p.2).
An example of some forms of cyberstalking that can escalate is the case of a woman in Massachusetts, USA in 1999. This woman had a dispute with another user in her chat room about the user’s alias. After the disagreement, whenever the woman logged onto the same website the user was waiting for her. The user began to become more violent and then threatened the woman’s father and supplying information to her about his address. The woman took her fears to the police but they did not take it seriously as cyberstalking was a relatively new occurrence so she sought legal advice and was able to prosecute the user. (Cyber-Stalking 2005, p.1) But some people are not so lucky. A study was conducted in America in which stated that 75% of cases that were referred for prosecution by the federal authorities, concerning stalking, were thrown out because of lack of evidence. (Smith 2004, p.6) Cyberstalking has come to a point where more cases are coming apparent because of the lack of legislation in some countries. Queensland was the first jurisdiction within Australia to introduce laws against stalking into section 359B of the Queensland Criminal Code in 1993. These laws were again changed slightly in 1999, but since then nothing has come about even though technology has advanced quite a bit in almost a decade. (Sullivan 2002, p.3) Dr. Olgilvie believes that including e-mail and internet communications within the definition of offensive communications would make it easier in prosecuting offenders, but so far only Victoria and Queensland have done this. Dr. Olgilvie also believes that catching and prosecuting offenders has proved as the stalker is only a digital address and while they can be traced they can also hide and shift their address so they can’t be. (Jackson.A. in Healey, J 2002, p.33)
So in conclusion cyberstalking has been brought about by the new technological era, but the internet cannot be blamed as it is just a means for the offenders to use. However the legislation concerning cyberstalking should be updated as many offences are getting thrown out because of some of the legislation in some countries. It is also proven that it is hard to try and catch and prosecute an offender as he is hidden behind a screen and address.
References:
Caslon Analytic note cyberstalking (2006) Caslon Analytics, retrieved April 30, 2007, http://www.caslon.com.au/stalkingnote.htm
Healey, J (Ed.) (2002) The Internet uses and abuses, Volume 161. Rozelle NSW: The Spinney Press.
M/Cyclopedia of New Media (2005), Cyber-Stalking, retrieved April 30, 2007,
http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Virtual_Communities_-_Cyber-Stalking
News-medical.net (2006), Teen bloggers at risk for cyberstalking and cyberbullying, retrieved May 7, 2007, http://www.news-medical.net/?id=16048
Ogilvie, E (2000) Paper presented at the Stalking: Criminal Justice Responses Conference convened By the Australian Institute of Criminology, Sydney, 7-8 December.
Richard, A. S., and Herman, T. T (Ed.) (2004) Readings in Cyber Ethics: Second Edition. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett.
Smith, R. G (2004) Criminal forfeiture and restriction- of –use orders in sentencing high tech offenders. In Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No 286. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Sullivan, B (2001) Cyberstalking rears its head in the workforce, retrieved May 8, 2007, http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Cyberstalking-rears-its-head-in-the-workplace/0,130061744,120218777-2,00.htm
Sullivan, D (2002) A critical analysis of Queensland’s cyberstalking legislation. NSW Society for Computers and the Law Journal, Issue 48.
Victims of crime helpline (2005) Stalking, retrieved May 7, 2007,
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:58od6vEWLM8J:www.magistratescourt.vic.gov.au/CA256902000FE154/Lookup/Family_Violence_documentS/%24file/Stalking_brochure_2005.pdf+stalking+occurs&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=au
Society has developed and expanded throughout the centuries as new technologies have emerged, in particular the internet. The internet has evolved so quickly that it is becoming easier and cheaper to access throughout the world. Due to this rapidly expanding modern communication, crime, also known as cybercrime has become more evident. An element of cybercrime that is emerging on the internet is cyberstalking. Cyberstalking is found to be similar to traditional stalking as it uses a number of the same means, but is different to the way that the internet is used for the means to stalk its victims. Another difficulty with technology advancing so rapidly is that legislation is struggling to keep up with these new forms of crime. Current laws do not address this problem appropriately and they don’t protect users of the internet from these crimes.
Stalking has been claimed to occur because of a variety of reasons, the main being that there is some sort of infatuation with the victim. Other reasons include stalkers wanting to re-establish a broken relationship or institute a romance or friendship in some way with their victim. (Stalking 2005, p.2) Stalking has also been claimed to occur because of a creation of certain environments and in consequence cyberstalking came about as it is an occurrence of the internet and its environment. (Grodinzinsky & Tavani in Richard, A.S, and Herman, T.T 2004, p.561). There is although, disagreement that the internet has led to the rise of stalking cases. Mark Zwillinger, an employee of a legal team of computer crimes believes that a nasty email can be sent so quickly and easily that they may not even be a stalker. He believes that the internet is just a way to change their means and that it is not to be blamed. (Cyberstalking rears its head in the workforce, 2001, p.1)
Cyberstalking has many different methods in which depend on a particular part of the internet that is being exploited. The methods are:
-Email stalking,
-Internet stalking, and
-Computer stalking.
Email stalking is a way in which there is communication through using emails. Internet stalking is using global communication through the internet and computer stalking is using someone else’s computer under unauthorized control. (Ogilvie 2000, p.2) Cyberstalking is becoming easier for offenders as they have access to all the personal details of individuals on the internet. A study conducted by David Huffaker of Northwestern University showed that out of 68 random weblogs produced by teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17, many had revealed their actual names, ages and offline locations. (Teen bloggers at risk for cyberstalking and cyberbullying 2006, p.1)
The most common form of cyber stalking, which is measured as the least threatening, is unwanted emails. These may begin as a few misdirected comments at the victim but could then escalate to a number of emails being sent daily. Other forms can include spamming (sending large quantities of unwanted mail) and sending viruses (Ogilvie 2000, p.4). Online threats are another form of stalking and many see them as some type of prank. Sometimes though if treated the wrong way it can soon turn into a very serious matter and more acts of stalking can occur. Such acts may include; identity theft, damage to data or equipment, transmission of threats, computer monitoring and the solicitation of sexual purposes” (Calson analytics, 2006 p.2).
An example of some forms of cyberstalking that can escalate is the case of a woman in Massachusetts, USA in 1999. This woman had a dispute with another user in her chat room about the user’s alias. After the disagreement, whenever the woman logged onto the same website the user was waiting for her. The user began to become more violent and then threatened the woman’s father and supplying information to her about his address. The woman took her fears to the police but they did not take it seriously as cyberstalking was a relatively new occurrence so she sought legal advice and was able to prosecute the user. (Cyber-Stalking 2005, p.1) But some people are not so lucky. A study was conducted in America in which stated that 75% of cases that were referred for prosecution by the federal authorities, concerning stalking, were thrown out because of lack of evidence. (Smith 2004, p.6) Cyberstalking has come to a point where more cases are coming apparent because of the lack of legislation in some countries. Queensland was the first jurisdiction within Australia to introduce laws against stalking into section 359B of the Queensland Criminal Code in 1993. These laws were again changed slightly in 1999, but since then nothing has come about even though technology has advanced quite a bit in almost a decade. (Sullivan 2002, p.3) Dr. Olgilvie believes that including e-mail and internet communications within the definition of offensive communications would make it easier in prosecuting offenders, but so far only Victoria and Queensland have done this. Dr. Olgilvie also believes that catching and prosecuting offenders has proved as the stalker is only a digital address and while they can be traced they can also hide and shift their address so they can’t be. (Jackson.A. in Healey, J 2002, p.33)
So in conclusion cyberstalking has been brought about by the new technological era, but the internet cannot be blamed as it is just a means for the offenders to use. However the legislation concerning cyberstalking should be updated as many offences are getting thrown out because of some of the legislation in some countries. It is also proven that it is hard to try and catch and prosecute an offender as he is hidden behind a screen and address.
References:
Caslon Analytic note cyberstalking (2006) Caslon Analytics, retrieved April 30, 2007, http://www.caslon.com.au/stalkingnote.htm
Healey, J (Ed.) (2002) The Internet uses and abuses, Volume 161. Rozelle NSW: The Spinney Press.
M/Cyclopedia of New Media (2005), Cyber-Stalking, retrieved April 30, 2007,
http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Virtual_Communities_-_Cyber-Stalking
News-medical.net (2006), Teen bloggers at risk for cyberstalking and cyberbullying, retrieved May 7, 2007, http://www.news-medical.net/?id=16048
Ogilvie, E (2000) Paper presented at the Stalking: Criminal Justice Responses Conference convened By the Australian Institute of Criminology, Sydney, 7-8 December.
Richard, A. S., and Herman, T. T (Ed.) (2004) Readings in Cyber Ethics: Second Edition. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett.
Smith, R. G (2004) Criminal forfeiture and restriction- of –use orders in sentencing high tech offenders. In Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No 286. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Sullivan, B (2001) Cyberstalking rears its head in the workforce, retrieved May 8, 2007, http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Cyberstalking-rears-its-head-in-the-workplace/0,130061744,120218777-2,00.htm
Sullivan, D (2002) A critical analysis of Queensland’s cyberstalking legislation. NSW Society for Computers and the Law Journal, Issue 48.
Victims of crime helpline (2005) Stalking, retrieved May 7, 2007,
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:58od6vEWLM8J:www.magistratescourt.vic.gov.au/CA256902000FE154/Lookup/Family_Violence_documentS/%24file/Stalking_brochure_2005.pdf+stalking+occurs&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=au
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