Computer Crime Law

The third edition of Kerr’s popular computer crimes text includes many updates since the second edition in 2009. New cases address topics such as the computer hacking laws, economic espionage online, Internet threats, criminal copyright prosecutions, searching cell phones incident to arrest, applying the Fourth Amendment to the Internet, and the validity of computer warrants. Two chapters have been restructured to make it easier for students to understand the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the emerging rules for computer searches.

The book covers every aspect of crime in the digital age, and it is presented in an engaging and accessible style. Topics range from computer fraud laws and international computer crimes to Internet surveillance laws and the Fourth Amendment. It is part traditional casebook, part treatise. It both straightforwardly explains the law and presents many exciting and new questions of law that courts are only now beginning to consider. The book is ideally suited either for a 3-credit course or a 2-credit seminar. It will appeal both to criminal law professors and those interested in cyberlaw or law and technology. No advanced knowledge of computers and the Internet is required or assumed.

Computer crime law has become an increasingly important area of criminal practice, and this book provides the ideal introduction to the field. Many U.S. Attorney's Offices have dedicated computer crime units, as have many state Attorney General offices. Any student with a background in this emerging area of law will have a leg up on the competition. Students will also find the book easy and fun to read, while professors will appreciate the accessible introduction to an important new field with many open questions for legal scholars.

The materials are authored by Orin Kerr, the Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor at George Washington University Law School and a leading authority on the law of computer crime.