This issue is not for Tech Support Providers of Boston only. This issue impacts anyone that owns or uses a computer or smartphone.

We are approaching the 10th anniversary of the Convention on Cybercrime, also known as the Budapest Convention. The treaty, which was opened for signatures in November 2001, sets guidelines for laws and procedures for dealing with Internet crime.

Delegates from around the world are meeting in France this week to discuss the only international treaty dealing with cybercrime, a treaty that has come under fire from some countries but defended by others as a crucial tool in fighting electronic crime.

In what seems like slow pace over the last 10 years, not unheard of for an international treaty, there have been thirty-two countries that have either ratified or acceded. Another fifteen countries have signed the treaty but not ratified yet. There’s another eight that have been invited to accede.

The treaty has formed a foundation for global law enforcement of cyberspace, requiring countries who abide by it to have uniform anti-cybercrime laws and law enforcement contacts available around the clock, among other requirements.

The Convention is overseen by the Council of Europe, an organization founded in 1949 that also oversees the European Convention on Human Rights.

Countries including the U.S. have viewed that proposal with suspicion, believing it may be motivated by an intent to create a legal instrument that could be invoked to unfairly crack down on Internet-based dissent.

For countries to successfully prosecute cybercriminals a computer-related offense in one country must also be illegal in another. This is one of the goals of the convention. The treaty also dictates what kind of investigative procedures are allowed, such as data interception or computer searches.

Very interesting to those that have begun using the Cloud for network operation and data was this from Alexander Seger, head of data protection and the cybercrime division of the Council of Europe.

Seger said the cybercrime convention’s committee is expected to discuss whether to start work on recommendations for clearer rules for how data can be accessed in data centers, also known as data “in the cloud.”

“The fact today with cloud computing is that law enforcement doesn’t even know where the data is located,” Seger said.

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