Criminalising cyberspace: the rise of the Internet as a ‘crime problem’
David S. Wall · 2013
In his detailed analysis of the Victorian electric telegraph, Standage observed that with every ‘new invention, there will always be some people who see only its potential to do good, while others see new opportunities to commit crime or make money. We can expect exactly the same reactions to whatever new inventions appear in the twenty first century’ (Standage 1998: 199). The Internet is a poignant example in case and this chapter explores the rise of the Internet as both a perceived ‘crime problem’ and also as a conduit for actual criminal activity. But this chapter is not simply a chronological jaunt through the annals of history. It tells a more complex story in which, it will be argued, the perception of the Internet as a crime problem needs to be disaggregated from the Internet as a conduit for actual criminal activity. This is because the cultural life of cybercrime is quite different to its reality; however, what complicates the story even further is that we find the reality of cybercrime has been heavily shaped by its cultural life and vice versa. Not only has technology shaped the social, but at the same time the social has also shaped the technology.