Janet Reno warns of "lawlessness on the Internet"

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

>From U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno's weekly press conference, held this
morning at the Department of Justice. She's speaking about an upcoming
meeting of the G-7 nations and Russia:

        At this meeting we will be discussing ways in which our
	countries can work together to better identify and locate
	cybercriminals.

        Automation, computers, the Internet have now made
	boundaries, in many instances, meaningless.  As I have
	said on a number of occasions at this table, a man can
	sit at a computer in Europe and steal from a bank in the
	United States.  Someone in Germany can get a list of
	credit card numbers here and try to extort people for
	money on the threat of using these credit cards.

        I think it is imperative that we develop practices,
	procedures, and laws that will enable these countries -
	and indeed other countries throughout the world - to work
	together to focus on criminals who are exploiting the new
	technologies that so many of us are relying on. The
	solution is working together as nations.  Our law
	enforcement agencies must learn to work together more
	closely on these issues and more quickly than ever
	before, since a split-second response can help catch a
	hacker while he is still online.

        The fight against lawlessness on the Internet will be one
	of the greatest law enforcement challenges of the next
	century.  By working on agreements to help meet that
	challenge, we won't be left fighting 21st century threats
	with 20th century solutions.  I think it is going to be
	incumbent upon us all to develop the expertise on the
	part of law enforcement, both at the federal and state
	level, to make sure that we know who our counterparts are
	around the world and that we come together on this issue.

I guess this is the Department of Justice's response to "cryptoanarchy."

-Declan