Additionally to “self-regulation” authorities should impose higher penalties and more prosecutions, as gangs of organised cyber criminals who launch these Spam campaigns are not going to stop because of the huge profit the illicit activity makes. But for Governments to assert that privacy of e-mail communication should be breached to combat Spam is an immoral decision. If the Royal Mail decided to make photocopies of every letter that went through their service there would be public outburst so why is the situation any different when it comes to the Internet?

However, it is obvious that officials have to address these concerns and isolate the vast number of illegal activities committed but what is the right action to take? Currently President Bush is pushing to ratify the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention (CECC) global agreement that permits Internet surveillance and would pose as serious threat for privacy at home. The President of United States promises it would “be an effective tool in the global effort to combat computer-related crime” and added that it is the “only international treaty to address the problems of computer-related crime and electronic evidence gathering.”

But do we really want law enforcement conducting surveillance on people worldwide who have not committed any crimes in order to help enforce the law of some criminal party in Columbia?”

In this article I have considered the Governmental implications for Internet regulation together with the right for free expression. Personally the question has a tendency to pull at me from both sides in the debate and I can see that cybercrime is becoming a huge problem. However I do not believe that regimes all over the world should suppress economic liberalisation due to criminal activity because in a sense an action like that is criminal in itself. The CECC agreement should not be ratified as it is difficult to apply one set of laws which would be universally accepted by different cultures, religious sects or social groups. My final opinion is that authorities should improve upon “self-regulation” so that the Internet becomes a more attractive environment, particularly for children, as they are unable to defend for themselves.