Don’t bring your computer viruses to Japan, because they’re illegal now

Bored with getting swamped with spam and malware? Just pack your things and catch the subsequent flight to Japan, where computer viruses at the moment are considered illegal. Under the country’s new legislation, anyone convicted of establishing or distributing viruses could withstand three years in prison, or a maximum fine of ¥500,000 (about $6,200). It is all a part of Japan’s efforts to conform with the Convention on Cybercrime — a global treaty that requires member governments to criminalize hacking , child pornography, and other terrible things. Privacy advocates, however, have already raised concerns over some stipulations that might allow investigators to grab data from PCs set up to allegedly criminal networks, and to retain any suspicious e-mail logs for as much as 60 days. In an try to quell these fears, the Judicial Affairs Committee tacked a resolution directly to the bill calling for police to exercise these powers only after they really, really want to.

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This post is tagged: child pornography, criminal networks, judicial affairs committee, member governments, privacy advocates