[Abandoned] Unauthorized Digital Access Act

[The Multiverse and Beyond]

Unauthorized Digital Access Act
Category: International Security
Strength: Mild

Draft #3

The Nations of the World Assembly,

RECOGNIZING the growing importance of networked technology to the world economy;

REALIZING the increasing danger that hackers pose to digital infrastructure, and by extension the integrity of world communities;

BELIEVING that due to the omnipresent nature of the internet it is nearly impossible to regulate on a national level;

APPLAUDING all nations who have already taken steps to address said digital threats, while

ACKNOWLEDGING that many have yet to address the issue;

The World Assembly hereby:

DEFINES "unauthorized access" as knowingly accessing a computer system not intended for public use without permission from the owner or operator of said computer system, bypassing security systems using illegitimately obtained security credentials or circumventing security entirely in the process;

MANDATES that member nations declare unauthorized access to computer systems illegal, except in cases of criminal investigations where the owner/operator of the computer system in question is under reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, or during wartime as a state-sponsored act of war;

REQUIRES that the nations of both the criminal and the victim cooperate to determine a sentence; failing a unanimous decision, the nation in which the affected computer resides takes precedence, and the nation in which the criminal resides must allow the criminal to face their determined punishment, subject to national and international extradition policies;

URGES member nations to raise awareness to the dangers cyber-criminals pose to ordinary citizens, and to educate said citizens on what measures they can take to protect themselves online.

Draft #2

The Nations of the World Assembly,

RECOGNIZING the growing importance of networked technology to the world economy;

REALIZING the increasing danger that hackers pose to digital infrastructure, and by extension the integrity of world communities;

BELIEVING that due to the omnipresent nature of the internet it is nearly impossible to regulate on a national level;

APPLAUDING all nations who have already taken steps to address said digital threats, while

ACKNOWLEDGING that many have yet to address the issue;

The World Assembly hereby:

DEFINES "unauthorized access" as knowingly accessing a computer system not intended for public use without permission from the owner or operator of said computer system, bypassing security systems using illegitimately obtained security credentials or circumventing security entirely in the process;

MANDATES that member nations declare unauthorized access to computer systems illegal, except in cases of criminal investigations where the owner/operator of the computer system in question is under reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, or during wartime as a state-sponsored act of war;

REQUIRES that the nations of both the criminal and the victim cooperate to determine a sentence; failing a unanimous decision, the nation in which the affected computer resides takes precedence, and the nation in which the criminal resides must allow the criminal to face their determined punishment;

URGES member nations to raise awareness to the dangers cyber-criminals pose to ordinary citizens, and to educate said citizens on what measures they can take to protect themselves online.

Draft #1

The Nations of the World Assembly,

RECOGNIZING the growing importance of networked technology to the world economy;

REALIZING the increasing danger that hackers pose to digital infrastructure, and by extension the integrity of world communities;

BELIEVING that due to the omnipresent nature of the internet it is nearly impossible to regulate on a national level;

APPLAUDING all nations who have already taken steps to address said digital threats, while

ACKNOWLEDGING that many have yet to address the issue;

The World Assembly hereby:

DEFINES "unauthorized access" as knowingly accessing a computer system not intended for public use without permission from the owner or operator of said computer system, bypassing security systems using illegitimately obtained security credentials or circumventing security entirely in the process;

MANDATES that member nations declare unauthorized access to computer systems illegal, except in cases of criminal investigations where the owner/operator of the computer system in question is under reasonable suspicion of criminal activity;

REQUIRES that the nations of both the criminal and the victim cooperate to determine a sentence; failing a unanimous decision, the nation in which the affected computer resides takes precedence, and the nation in which the criminal resides must allow the criminal to face their determined punishment;

URGES member nations to raise awareness to the dangers cyber-criminals pose to ordinary citizens, and to educate said citizens on what measures they can take to protect themselves online.

[Jarish Inyo]

Category and strength?

[The Multiverse and Beyond]

Category and strength?

I put them in; I'm not sure about strength, but Mild seemed right, and International Security is not an exact match but it seemed the closest match.

[Defwa]

"so called hackers"? Are we not sure they're hackers? Are we counting their hacking ability?

All in all I'm not against this. Leaves a lot of room nations to deal.
You'll need to make room for cyber war though.

[The Multiverse and Beyond]

I've added a clause allowing for cyberwar, though I'm a little uncomfortable with the phrasing. I would appreciate feedback on it.

[Defwa]

I've added a clause allowing for cyberwar, though I'm a little uncomfortable with the phrasing. I would appreciate feedback on it.

Two things- I don't see it. And when keeping multiple drafts, keep the most up to date draft on top and unspoiled.

[Hakio]

"Seems alright to me," says Sia Hedishi in an approving manner comparing the two drafts. "As long as you don't mandate the severity of which our government is to punish these criminals as we consider it a minor misdemeanor and in certain contexts fall under legal protest laws in our country. Will this resolution allow us to decide for ourselves the conditions of it's illegality or will that be legislated on in this proposal?"

[Sierra Lyricalia]

REQUIRES that the nations of both the criminal and the victim cooperate to determine a sentence; failing a unanimous decision, the nation in which the affected computer resides takes precedence, and the nation in which the criminal resides must allow the criminal to face their determined punishment;

I don't see anything here that specifically violates it, but this clause touches the bailiwick of GAR 147, Exradition Rights. You may wish to give lip service to it by way of something like "subject to applicable national and WA extradition policies" just to leave no doubt.

[The Multiverse and Beyond]

I've added an exception for cyberwar, though I'm a little uncomfortable with the phrasing. I would appreciate feedback on it.

Two things- I don't see it. And when keeping multiple drafts, keep the most up to date draft on top and unspoiled.

Thanks for the advice.
I've underlined the exception in the latest draft.

[Defwa]

Two things- I don't see it. And when keeping multiple drafts, keep the most up to date draft on top and unspoiled.

Thanks for the advice.
I've underlined the exception in the latest draft.

Oh, I was expecting that take way more space and missed it. But I always go the complicated route.
That actually works out really well

[The Multiverse and Beyond]

"Seems alright to me," says Sia Hedishi in an approving manner comparing the two drafts. "As long as you don't mandate the severity of which our government is to punish these criminals as we consider it a minor misdemeanor and in certain contexts fall under legal protest laws in our country. Will this resolution allow us to decide for ourselves the conditions of it's illegality or will that be legislated on in this proposal?"

"This proposal assigns no specific penalty to these crimes, nor does it mandate the severity thereof; however, it does require that hacking remain illegal, so your protest exception would not comply with this resolution as it stands." Ambassador Kodon Mishtok explains. "Additionally, keep in mind that if one of your citizens hacks a computer system in another nation, that nation's laws will take precedence."

[Separatist Peoples]

"This proposal assigns no specific penalty to these crimes, nor does it mandate the severity thereof; however, it does require that hacking remain illegal, so your protest exception would not comply with this resolution as it stands." Ambassador Kodon Mishtok explains. "Additionally, keep in mind that if one of your citizens hacks a computer system in another nation, that nation's laws will take precedence."

"So the unreasonable laws of a neighbor take precidence over our jurisdiction? Absolutely not. The incompetence of foreign jurisdictions is exactly why we refuse to extradite; no judicial body superceeds ours in our territory, especially with the ICC gone. We will not send our citizens to the gulags of another nation for hacking. Or worse, send them to an executioner. This will never pass with such sovereignty-stomping language."

[Hakio]

"This proposal assigns no specific penalty to these crimes, nor does it mandate the severity thereof; however, it does require that hacking remain illegal, so your protest exception would not comply with this resolution as it stands." Ambassador Kodon Mishtok explains. "Additionally, keep in mind that if one of your citizens hacks a computer system in another nation, that nation's laws will take precedence."

"So the unreasonable laws of a neighbor take precidence over our jurisdiction? Absolutely not. The incompetence of foreign jurisdictions is exactly why we refuse to extradite; no judicial body superceeds ours in our territory, especially with the ICC gone. We will not send our citizens to the gulags of another nation for hacking. Or worse, send them to an executioner. This will never pass with such sovereignty-stomping language."

"To an extent, I agree." Sia says drinking from her whiskey flask. "We should be able to judge our own criminals for crimes committed in our country. The internet is not international territory, but a service that is internationally used."

[Glen-Rhodes]

Given how similar laws have been in enforced, this kind of over-broad criminalization of a generic activity is probably not a good idea.

[The Multiverse and Beyond]

"In light of your arguments, we have come to the determination that this act is unnecessary, as we understand that individual nations will be able to handle these issues far better than the WA." Ambassador Mishtok announced, eyes slightly red. "However, my office is working on a new proposal to protect the individual's rights on the internet, while not attempting to address the overly-broad concept of hacking."