New computer-related offenses

The New Zealand Government has introduced legislation into Parliament that, if passed, will outlaw the criminal use of computers and physical or other damage to computer systems. The Crimes Amendment Bill (No.6), introduced into Parliament today, creates three new computer-related offenses: the dishonest use of a computer; attempting to dishonestly use a computer; and intentional or reckless serious damage to a computer. The definition of "document" will also be extended to include electronic documents held on a computer hard disk. This clarification was necessary after a recent court case in New Zealand raised questions about whether such documents actually existed. Property crime will also be extended to intangible assets - the balance of a bank account for example. In spite of the new attention to computer crime, a law criminalizing hacking is still not likely to be introduced until next year. The Government is still considering how to define "hacking" or "cracking" - i.e. what should and what should not be illegal. "The Bill will bring New Zealand_s property laws into the computer age," said Justice Minister Tony Ryall. "Our justice system needs to be the system of the people of the 21st Century - not be stuck in the 20th." The new offenses will carry maximum penalties of up to seven years imprisonment. Ryall said that there were many questions still to be resolved, and that because of the pace of technology change and the global nature of the Internet many could only be resolved on a global scale.