Virtual Crime, Virtual Deterrence: a Skeptical View of Self-Help, Architecture, and Civil Liability
Orin S. Kerr · 2017
Cybercrime demands a new model of law enforcement, the thinking goes; the traditional mechanisms of criminal investigation and prosecution cannot deter computer-related crime effectively. From a virtual perspective, the Internet can be understood as the home of a virtual world of cyberspace that is roughly analogous to the physical world. Understanding the distinction between physical and virtual descriptions of the Internet is critical to understand how law can help deter computer crime. Over reliance on virtual metaphors also blunts the effectiveness of architectural approaches to computer crime. The fact that cyberspace is only a metaphor makes it difficult for architectural insights to advance the debate over strategies to deter computer crime. Over reliance on virtual metaphors also undergirds a number of proposals to impose civil liability on third-parties for the costs of criminal activity. The cyberspace metaphor is a powerful tool.