Law & Paneir

Abdalla Uba Adamu Department of Education Bayero University, Kano Introduction The United States of America presents a classical contemporary paradox, if such a thing were to exist. As the "Great Satan" of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, it is the Muslim world’s most hated country; yet it provides more freedom for the expression of Islam than any Muslim country. This freedom is provided through the platform of the Internet. In the first instance, of the 13 domain name root servers on the planet, through which every internet traffic passes through, 10 are located in the United States, one each in Japan, England, and Sweden. The root servers are maintained predominantly under the auspices of the US government. Further, let us not forget, the internet itself is an American concept, created to sustain the American mindset — freedom of expression, and sharing of information, among others. This can only happen in an open society. In the Middle East and North Africa — seen as Islam’s c...

Dr. Mahmoud Eid, University of Ottawa Although there are many different concepts of “terrorism” and no one agreed-upon definition of the term to date, most would acknowledge the existence of “cyber-terrorism,” i.e., the use of information and communications technologies to facilitate any or all forms of terrorism. Individuals or groups can now use cyberspace, computers, and information technology, especially the Internet, to threaten, terrorize and cause harm to both governments and civilians. Terrorists are pioneers in using the latest technologies. In our growing era of cyber-terrorism, a cyber-terrorist can not only conduct the types of attacks that we have grown accustomed to, such as remote bombing, but are increasingly able to deliver horrific destruction at a remove. For example, it is possible, through the use of the Internet, to hack into the processing control systems of a cereal manufacturer, change the levels of iron supplement, and consequently kill the children of a natio...

Written by renowned expert Professor Clive Walker, Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, School of Law, University of Leeds. Comments: This paper examines the legal principles and law pertaining with cyber threats which developed further as cyber terrorism after the September 11th. Very interesting and well written. Source: http://www.court21.ac.uk/docs/penn07d.pdf

There are currently over a billion Internet users in the world, but not all of them are friendly. In recent years, the anonymous nature of the Web has turned it into a boomtown for all sorts of radicalized hate. "Since the events of 9/11, terrorist presence online has multiplied tenfold," says Hsinchun Chen, director of the University of Arizona's Artificial Intelligence Lab. "Around the year 2000, there were 70 to 80 core terrorist sites online; now there are at least 7000 to 8000." Those sites are doing everything from spreading militant propaganda to offering insurgency advice to plotting the next wave of attacks, making the net, as Chen also points out: "arguably the most powerful tool for spreading extremist violence around the world." But thanks to Chen, that tide may be turning. He's the architect behind the newest weapon in the war on terror — a giant, searchable database on extremists known as Dark Web. Using a bevy of advanced technologie...