Technology: Legal Issues in Australia Essay Example
Advances in technology has brought many benefits but also problems. The use of new technology creates moral and ethical problems and conflicting attitudes in society. The complexity of the issues and the pace with which technology changes mean that legislators have difficulty making laws that can keep in control of these changes.
Technology affects all areas of society, forcing changes in a range of laws. Advances in computer technology have resulted in a new brand of cyber crimes such as computer fraud, computer hacking, email spam, pornography (especially when it relates to children) and stalking online. But it doesn’t just limit itself to computer related crimes. The new wave of digital recording devices create issues with privacy and new medical technology brings up moral issues in relation to cloning, genetic engineering and prolonging life (and also euthanasia).
Computers have become a big part of our lives. They are being used more and more and the Internet has brought with it a big amount of computer criminals. In 1988, Victoria created the first Australian computer crime laws.
The Crimes (Computer) Act 1988 (Vic.) outlaws computer hacking (unauthorised access to data stored in a computer) with a new crime of computer trespass. It is also an offence under this act to use a computer to obtain property by deception. The Cyber Crimes Act 2001 (Cth) prohibits access or modification to a computer to commit indictable offences like fraud. It also makes it illegal to gain access to restricted data or to affect connections between computers. This also makes it illegal to modify information on credit cards or any other electronic devices. The Crimes (Stalking) Act 2003 (Vic.) makes it illegal to stalk people over the internet either within Australia or overseas. Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 (Cth) deals with the issue of copyright over the internet. The Spam Act 2003 (Cth) regulates the conditions in which emails sent from unsolicited parties are
Technology affects all areas of society, forcing changes in a range of laws. Advances in computer technology have resulted in a new brand of cyber crimes such as computer fraud, computer hacking, email spam, pornography (especially when it relates to children) and stalking online. But it doesn’t just limit itself to computer related crimes. The new wave of digital recording devices create issues with privacy and new medical technology brings up moral issues in relation to cloning, genetic engineering and prolonging life (and also euthanasia).
Computers have become a big part of our lives. They are being used more and more and the Internet has brought with it a big amount of computer criminals. In 1988, Victoria created the first Australian computer crime laws.
The Crimes (Computer) Act 1988 (Vic.) outlaws computer hacking (unauthorised access to data stored in a computer) with a new crime of computer trespass. It is also an offence under this act to use a computer to obtain property by deception. The Cyber Crimes Act 2001 (Cth) prohibits access or modification to a computer to commit indictable offences like fraud. It also makes it illegal to gain access to restricted data or to affect connections between computers. This also makes it illegal to modify information on credit cards or any other electronic devices. The Crimes (Stalking) Act 2003 (Vic.) makes it illegal to stalk people over the internet either within Australia or overseas. Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 (Cth) deals with the issue of copyright over the internet. The Spam Act 2003 (Cth) regulates the conditions in which emails sent from unsolicited parties are