By: Carlton W. Reeves, Luis Felipe Restrepo, Laura E. Mate, Claire Murray, Claria Horn Boom, John Gleeson, Candice C. Wong, Patricia K. Cushwa, and Scott A.C. Meisler

The use of cyber technologies, such as cryptocurrency and the dark web, provides new and evolving means to commit crimes and avoid detection. These technologies are used to commit a variety of federal offenses. The dark web is sometimes used to create, hide, or access websites containing child pornography. Illegal drugs and firearms are sometimes sold through dark websites. Cryptocurrency is sometimes used to facilitate these crimes. [...] Regardless of the type of crime involved, the relative anonymity these technologies provide to their users creates challenges for the investigation and prosecution of the crimes committed with them. The use of cyber technology to commit crimes transcends national borders. As Interpol has found, this causes investigative and legal challenges that can be difficult to overcome. United States government agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, have reported on the increasing threats from these technologies and estimated yearly losses in the billions from the crimes committed with these technologies. There has been little analysis on the individuals sentenced for a federal offense who use these technologies for illegal purposes, the offenses they committed, and trends in these areas over time. In developing this report, the United States Sentencing Commission ('the Commission') collected information on individuals sentenced for offenses using cryptocurrency, the dark web, and hacking for fiscal years 2014 through 2021."

United States Sentencing Commission Sep. 2024

By Ramesh Subramanian, Eddan Katz

The Internet has been integral to the globalization of a range of goods and production, from intellectual property and scientific research to political discourse and cultural symbols. Yet the ease with which it allows information to flow at a global level presents enormous regulatory challenges. Understanding if, when, and how the law should regulate online, international flows of information requires a firm grasp of past, present, and future patterns of information flow, and their political, economic, social, and cultural consequences.

In The Global Flow of Information, specialists from law, economics, public policy, international studies, and other disciplines probe the issues that lie at the intersection of globalization, law, and technology, and pay particular attention to the wider contextual question of Internet regulation in a globalized world. While individual essays examine everything from the pharmaceutical industry to television to “information warfare” against suspected enemies of the state, all contributors address the fundamental question of whether or not the flow of information across national borders can be controlled, and what role the law should play in regulating global information flows.

New York: NYU Press, 2011.