Brussels, 09/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The participants in the hearing on computer-related crime, organised on Wednesday in Brussels, by the European Commission unanimously the creation of a European Forum, which will regroup all the interested parties. Service providers, representatives from the EU Presidency, the European Parliament, police forces, and agencies protecting private lives underlined, during the hearing, the importance of beginning a multi-disciplined discussion in the framework of this Forum, whose creation is one of the actions proposed by the European Commission in a Communication adopted at the end of January (see EUROPE of 31 January, p.10). Commissioner Antonio Vitorino, who closed the debates, added that he hopes that the Forum will see the light of day during the month of May. This Forum. aimed at advising the Commission over the follow-up to give to the proposals formulated in its Communication, will be "open and transparent, and will use the Internet as much as possible to ensure full "on-line" consultation and discussion", he underlined. Among those who announced their support for the creation of the European Forum on computer-related crime, John Ryan, Vice-President of AOL, thus stated that his company was part of the British Forum since its creation in 1997, and that he could only "welcome the creation of a similar forum at EU level", because it should allow for "a better understanding of the issues specific to each party".
The Commission is proposing that the issue of storing data be examined as a priority by the Forum, because this is "one of the most difficult issues", stated Commissioner Vitorino, thus sharing the opinion of many participants, who underlined the extent to which this issue is sensitive and the extent to which opinions are shared. The storage of data, opposes the police and legal forces who feel that the storage of traffic data is crucial for the effectiveness of searches, on the other hand, private groups - data protection authorities, and in certain cases, industry - which have legitimate concerns as to the consequence of data storage relating to traffic, and with regards to the burden that this can represent for them, underlined the Commission, for whom it is clear that there is no consensus for resolving this sensitive issue.
Very different opinions have been expressed over this issue. A EuroIspa representative, the European Internet Service Providers Association, thus expressed his fear over the costs that the interception and the storage of data could represent for the private sector. According to him the tasks undertaken off-line by the legal authorities should not be the responsibility of private companies, nor be replaced by greater intervention by the legal system. The EuroIspa representatives finally questioned whether the storage periods are not too long. According to Belgian law, he explained, data must be stored for twelve months, while there has never been a concrete request for data older than three months. John Ryan, for AOL, recognised the need to enforce the law, but said that the storage of data must have a reasonable and efficient duration.
On the other hand, the Directors of the "internet" police for Sweden and the United Kingdom protested against insufficiencies in present rules. For Keith Akerman, from the British police, the laws are not adapted, the information that enables to find criminals disappears, the evidence is erased. Keith Akerman, underlining that he was deliberately provocative in order to draw attention to this very serious problem, gave the example of a very large network of paedophiles that he was unable to dismantle because the information that would have allowed to discover the criminals was lost forever, destroyed due to the enforcement of the laws protecting private lives. His Swedish counterpart made a similar speech, feeling that they will achieve nothing with a legislation that forces operators to erase data other than that required to invoice, while increasingly often there is no billing due to the use of flat rate charges.
In a more general manner, Commissioner Vitorino, as well as Charlotte Cederschiold (EPP, Swedish) rapporteur for the European Parliament on computer related crime, and other participants, underlined that the aim of these talks, and their difficulty, was to find a fair balance between the enforcement of the law, the industry, and the protection of private lives. While the Council of Europe is in the process of finalising a convention on computer-related crime, Erik Wennestrom, representative for the Swedish Presidency of the EU, called for the rapid adopting and enforcement of this convention, also underlining that the EU must be able to move ahead.