Europe says cybercrime treaty not 'Big Brother'

Denes Albert, Reuters, Budapest

A European treaty to combat the growing menace of cybercrime will give law enforcers broad international reach but will not be a "Big Brother" type agency, the Council of Europe (CoE) said on Friday.

"Contrary to what has been said in certain circles, we are not going to set up a 'Big Brother'," Guy de Vel, CoE's legal affairs director, told a news conference after 30 countries signed the new convention in Hungary's Parliament.

Nominally a European treaty, the first international cybercrime convention, which took four years to draft, was also signed by South Africa, Canada, the United States and Japan.

Under the treaty, signatories will have to set up national centers on around-the-clock standby to provide mutual assistance on all matters of computer crime -- from hacking and embezzling to life-threatening felonies.

It will enter into force once it has been ratified by five states, including at least three CoE members. The wide-ranging convention covers most computer-related crimes but, after objections by the United States, not incitement to racial hatred.

While Europe is as keen to ban racial hate from the internet as it is to fight child pornography, Washington was concerned that including racist and xenophobic websites in the agreement would go against the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution -- on freedom of expression.

Under a compromise deal, racial hatred will be covered by a side protocol to be drafted by next July.

"The Americans have got to think this through a bit," said Lord Russell-Johnston, President of the CoE's Parliamentary Assembly, adding that the U.S. position was being looked at again in the light of the Sept.11 attacks against the country.

"The attitudes of the United States on a number of these issues have not only been revised after Sept.11, but are still under serious revision," Russell-Johnston said.

Russia, Denmark, Ireland and the Czech Republic were among the 17 European countries not to sign the convention.