LEGISLATING COMPUTER CRIME

The advent of computer technology has challenged the adequacy of many areas of existing legislation. As Congress begins to address, through criminal legislation, issues raised by the prevalence of computer tech nology, distinguishing legislation responsive to the advent of compute r technology from legislation designed to promote unrelated moral and economic agendas becomes increasingly important In this Article, Mr: H eymann provides a guide for recognizing those broad areas where comput erization necessitates new criminal legislation. Focusing first on the area of substantive criminal law, he identifies legislative changes n ecessitated by the increasing centralization of data on computer syste ms, the intangible nature of computer data, and the speed and scale of computer activities. The author then addresses several procedural and evidentiary anomalies created by the advent of computer technology.