Criminal law of Information and Communication Technologies (2013/2014)

Learning outcomes

The objective of the course is to offer a systematic picture of the new criminal offences directed to punish the menaces committed through or against information systems (the so called “computer crimes”) or more generally committed in the Internet (the so called “cyber crimes”). The analysis will take into account the new legal and juridical innovations with special regard to the Law. n. 48 18. March 2008, through which the Italian legislator has ratified the Cybercrime Convention of the Council of Europe.
The growing diffusion of the access to the Internet and to its related services, the development of social networks and the progressive integration with mobile and wireless systems, the digitalization of music, cinematographic and audiovisual works have created the conditions for the commission in the cyberspace of new types of offences against the rights and the legal interests of other persons (i.e. illegal access, attacks against web-sites such as DoS and DDoS attacks, computer frauds, identity theft, phishing, spamming, copyright infringement, etc.) and other traditional offences committed through new tools (i.e. diffusion of child pornography or of illegal, defamatory, racist contents, or of contents instigating to the commission or organization of serious offences, such as terrorism, organized crime, illicit traffics, etc.).
The course aims at analyzing the specific forms of computer crimes and cybercrimes, and studying the different protected legal interests, that will represent the basis of the systematic and hermeneutic interpretation of the legal paradigms. Special attention will be paid to the “general part” of criminal law in this matter and its juridical categories. That will allow to make some critical considerations with regard to the actus reus and the mens rea elements and to special criminal law topics (i.e. the concept of act, the locus commissi delicti and tempus commissi delicti, criminal complicity, preparatory acts, etc.).
The supranational character of the subject will require also the comparative analysis of the criminal provisions against cybercrime in other countries, taking into account the need for an international harmonization in such a matter.