Tuesday, 12/6 Agenda

Finish Cyber-CrimeTerrorism

Crimes of the Powerful

Administrative

• Extra credit option is posted on course page• Updated schedule– Final two classes = slides/lecture only – No reading assignments – Material will still be on exam

• Study guide to be provided for final exam– Will post on web next week– Exam not cumulative

Cyber-Crime

• Crime that occurs over the internet using a computer– Cyber markets– Fraud– Development of criminal communities

Cyber-Markets

• Piracy– Software, Music, Movies, Television Broadcasts, Books…

• Requires minimal skill, but does entail some risks (viruses, lawsuits, etc.)

• Estimates vary, but roughly 1/3 of Americans report pirating• Higher estimates among youth, especially COLLEGE KIDS! • Music and video piracy appears to be declining…why?

• Beyond pirating—use of legitimate (eBay, Craig's list) and illegitimate sites to engage in crime (sell stolen goods, trade in illicit drugs/sex).

Cyber pornography market• Defining “pornography” has always been

problematic• Other major issues– Access by Minors– Unwanted solicitation– Child pornography

• Federal legislation has had limited success…– Communications Decency act of 1996– Child Online Protection Act (COPA) of 1998– Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) of 2000

Cyber Fraud

• Traditional Fraud Scams– A friend from Nigeria wished to transfer a million

dollars into your account• Phishing and Pharming scams– Your Ebay account has been compromised!

• Hacking• Major concern with many of these techniques is

identity theft– Use your information to take out loans, get credit cards,

etc.

Identity Theft

• The unlawful use of another person’s identifying information – Use of name, DOB, social security number, credit

card number…to commit fraud or other crimes– Internet and information age has made this much

easier

Combating Identity Theft

• State Legislation– “Freeze laws” – stops access to credit reports– Laws to redact fraudulent transactions from credit

reports– Disclosure laws—if your info has been compromised

• New emphasis on information privacy• Risk minimization– Guard SS# and other private info, look at credit reports,

shred sensitive paper, don’t open suspicious email…

Cybercrime Communities

• Anonymity of cyberspace– Deviant Subcultures have arena to share

information and engage in crime• Child Pornography• Drug Distribution

Terrorism

• Definitions Vary Widely – The use of violence to influence the political,

social, or religious attitudes and/or behaviors of others

– Premeditated, politically motivated violence, designed to spread fear and perpetrated against civilians

“START” DATA

• National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism– University of Maryland

• Convergence of several databases + new additions from media

– What qualifies:• Intend to coerce/intimidate/convey message beyond immediate

victims• Aimed at attaining political/social/religious goal • Context outside of legitimate warfare

– Almost 100,000 terrorist incidents between 1970 and 2010 • 43,000 bombings, 14,000 assassinations, and 4,700 kidnappingsInteractive Chart

Thinking about Terrorism

• Political/Secular vs. Religious• Organization and Support• Domestic Terrorism• Response to Terrorism

Political vs. Secular

• Motivations of terrorists – Those with political agenda may be more selective

regarding civilian casualties • Logic = the non-believers are all enemies

• HOWEVER, it is sometimes difficult to separate the religious from the secular

• Osama Bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks had both a religious and political/secular component

Terrorist “Cells”

• Cell Structure– Chain of command at the top (hierarchy), but

operation in smaller, tightly kit “cells”• Cells independent of each other, somewhat

autonomous • Cells have limited or no contact with leaders of terror

group

– Long history of use• Irish Republican Army

Types of Terrorism

• Domestic terrorism – U.S.• Left Wing (Weathermen, Eco-Terrorism)• Right Wing (Militias, Timothy McVeigh)

• State terrorism– Against domestic or foreign “enemies” • German atrocities against Jews circa WWII • Assassination of foreign leaders

Terrorism and the Media

• Scholars have pointed out that there is a natural match – Terrorists depend on media• Use event to coerce larger audience: high visibility

targets, graphic acts, pre-event contact with media outlets, post-event videos

– Media as a natural venue for terrorism• Dramatic, violent, visual, timely (vs. wars which are

protracted, highly complex…) • HIGH RATINGS

Response to Terrorism

• Difficult balance – Aggressive response detection deterrence – Concern civil rights, overreaching

• Examples– USA Patriot Act • Warrantless search and seizures, wiretapping, etc.

– Global War on Terror • Interrogation techniques, use of drones to assasinate,

etc.

Crimes of the Powerful

• Organized Crime• White Collar Crime – Occupational Crime– Corporate Crime

Organized Crime

• Criminal activity committed by groups with some manner of formalized structure– Primary goal is typically money and power

• Some ambiguity here– Street gangs versus drug cartels– Terrorist groups

Just how organized is it?

• The Alien Conspiracy Model (foreign criminals)– Highly organized and centralized– Sicilian “Mafia” (La Cosa Nostra) as poster child

• Mafia code (loyalty, respect, discipline), secret oaths, traditions, etc

• Local, ethnic group model– Strong family ties and obligations related to kinship and

ethnicity• Distrust of outsiders and government • Capacity for organization and cooperation among groups • Ability to cultivate good will of local residents

– Influence limited to cities/geographical areas

Crimes of the organized

• Illegal Industries– Gambling, narcotics distribution, loan sharking, extortion,

insurance scams, fencing… – Violence associated with enforcement

• Legitimate industry – Used to launder money + create monopolies + extort

• Restaurants/food, garbage disposal, garment manufacturing, labor unions, construction…

• Political– Bribery, fixing elections, coercing agents of criminal justice,

etc.

The Mafia

• Mafia is often used as general term– Usually refers to Italian Americans (Sicilian), or La Cosa

Nostra (“our thing” in Italian)• Fodder for entertainment media (Sopranos, The Godfather,

Goodfellas) • Famous New York crime families (Gambino, Genovese)]• Joseph Valachi testimony (1963) before the Senate

– The organization and crime families do exist, but the level of organization often exaggerated

– Does “stand apart” because of its pervasiveness, control over illegitimate markets, and penetration into legitimate industry

Law Enforcement Methods

• Headhunting– Target heads of organized crime families, use

informants + surveillance to indict – Successful?

• Fairly successful at knocking off “heads” but still organized crime

• Organized Crime Control Act (1970)– Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations

(RICO) Statutes – Prosecutor ability to provide witness protection

The Russian Mafia

• The new media darling– Law and Order, more recent movies

• Similar to Italian Mafia• Both began by extorting money from fellow immigrants and

quickly moved into other areas, and both have reputation for violence

• Differences – Less cultural/ethnic loyalty, partnerships more

opportunistic • Fewer “bosses” who collect a cut of illicit ventures, greater

flexibility

White Collar Crime

• Edwin Sutherland– “A crime committed by a person of respectability and

high social status in the course of his occupation”• Urged criminologists to focus on crimes of the upper class,

as opposed to street crime (still an issue today)• What is “counted” counts

– Sutherland’s study of 70 largest corporations: official records revealed over 980 law violations (fraud, bribery, antitrust)» Much “War Profiteering”

• A BIT better with NIBRS data, but nowhere near as good as “street crime” data

More recent typology of WCC

• Occupational Crime– Crimes committed by individuals in the course of their

occupation for personal gain• Theft/embezzlement, medical fraud by physicians, therapist having

sex with client…

• Corporate or Organizational Crime – Crimes committed by corporations (and their executives)

for the benefit of the corporation• Organizations include small business and blue collar endeavors

(auto repair shops)

Occupational Crimes

• Employee embezzlement and pilferage – Collective embezzlement• Savings and Loans crime wave in the 1980s (land flips)

• Professional Fraud– Lawyers, Physicians • How many hours to bill clients• Unnecessary procedures and surgeries,

Medicaid/Medicare fraud

Organizational Crime

• Many organizational crimes are “blue collar” – Auto repair, appliance repair • 20/20 and 60 minutes stings

– Fraudulent businesses (roofing, blacktop) – Small businesses

Corporate Crime

• Fraud, Cheating, Corruption– The Enron Scandal

• Not alone—the most egregious of the 1990s/2000s era– Halliburton, WorldCom, Rite Aid, Adelphia…

• Enron = cooking books to artificially inflate the value of their stocks (overstate earnings, hide losses), manipulation of California’s energy market to drive up costs– Accounting firm (Arthur Anderson) complicit the fraud – 31 people indicted (Jeff Skilling, Ken Lay)

– The “Great Recession”? • Housing bubble (mortgage industry) + mortgage backed sec

urities + bailout…

Corporate Crime II

• Other financial– Price Fixing / Collusion (gas prices)– False advertising (bait and switch)

• Corporate Violence– Unsafe work conditions (miners, asbestos)– Unsafe products (contaminated food)• FORD PINTO CASE • PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY (Dalkon Shield)

– Pollution

Cost of WCC

• Cost MUCH higher than street crime– $17 billion vs. roughly $400 billion– 16,000 homicides vs. 100,000 unnecessary deaths

What causes WCC?

• Lenience?– Double standard embedded in culture—not “real”

criminals• Weak/absent regulations –rely on “ethics” and self-regulation• Difficulty in proving crime (complex, good lawyers, lack

resources to prosecute)– SEC over 10 years, 600 cases referred for prosecution, and less than

1/3 resulted in convictions with less than 1/6 resulting in jail or prison time

• Weak punishment civil settlements with no admission of wrongdoing– Fines often less than 1% of corporate PROFITS for a year

Irony

• Conservatives cry out for punishment for street crimes, but believe that much corporate “crime” can be cured by self-regulation

• Liberals decry harsh punishment, especially for non-violent offenders, but believe that WCC could be reduced greatly through prison time– Corporations more “rational” than individuls?

Psycho Corporations

• Psychopaths:– Insensitive, Manipulative, Superficial charm,

Above-average intelligence, Absence of psychotic symptoms, Absence of anxiety, Lack of remorse, Failure to learn from experience, Egocentric, Lack of emotional depth

– Corporations are not supposed to be compassionate or think of long-term consequences