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Europe: CoE Convention under attack

01 September 2000

The Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC) has sent a letter to the Council of Europe, signed by dozens of organisations, calling on it to reconsider its draft Convention on Cyber Crime. The GILD statement says:

"The international coalition of civil liberties and human rights organizations said the proposal posed a threat to free speech and privacy on the Internet... contrary to well established norms for the protection of the individual, that it improperly extends the police authority of national governments, that it will undermine the development of network security techniques, and that it will reduce government accountability in future law enforcement conduct.

According to the organizations, the Convention on Cyber Crime would require Internet companies to retain records of customer activity and force Internet Service Providers to review private messages distributed through computer networks. The draft treaty would also criminalize copyright violations and discourage the development of new network security tools. Other sections would encourage law enforcement access to stored records and encryption keys without sufficient legal safeguards and expand surveillance powers.

The Council of the European Union has indicated that it intends to adopt the model set by the Council of Europe's draft Convention on Cyber Crime. The Global Internet Liberty Campaign is an international coalition of organizations working to protect and enhance online civil liberties and human rights. Links to member organizations, as well as information about GILC issues and activities are available here