| Law doesn’t speak computers’ language |
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| Thursday, 17 May 2007 | ||||
 In Der Prozess -The trial- , a masterpiece by Franz Kafka, an esteemed businessman is processed and condemned without understanding his own imputations. Similar distressing, unfair situations happen every day all around the world but sometimes it also happens the exact contrary: a judge who doesn’t understand the crime committed by the defendants he is about to judge. According to Reuters news agency, a British judge admitted on Wednesday that he couldn’t cope with terms like “website” or “forum” in a trial of three men accused of inciting terrorism via the Internet. Judge Peter Openshaw, 59, couldn’t understand in depth the declarations of a witness who was describing the activities carried out in a forum used by alleged Islamist radicals.
"The trouble is I don't understand the language. I don't really understand what a website is," he told, and even after a short explanation by prosecutor Mark Ellison, Judge Openshaw acknowledged : I haven't quite grasped the concepts." Moreover, he asked Prosecutor Ellison to “keep it simple” when questioning witnesses about topics related to Computers, and he also hinted to “Start form basics”. The situation could seem to be funny but it is actually very serious since the case is centered on the distribution via web of violent Jihadist material including videos about beheadings of Western hostages. The three men charged with accusations deny any implication in illicit activities: Younes Tsouli, 23, Waseem Mughal, 24, and Tariq al-Daour, 21 were accused of a number of crimes under Britain's Terrorism Act, including incitation to commit an act of terrorism, conspiracy to murder or to defraud financial institutes. Even if this is –hopefully- an isolated case, it raises many questions on the international Legislative System, which often turns out to be inadequate to provide fair assistance in case of cyber crimes. The evolution of the Internet and its preponderance in everyday life, even in the lives of people who do not use computers at all, require with growing urgency the adjustment of norms and laws, in order to protect the right of information, the right of free communication and the right of people to be safe. Equally.
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