First, read Part One and answer the questions. The ONLY questions you need to answer are those in Part One.

Next, read Part Two and think about the subjects raised. This is purely in the nature of a review. You do NOT need to answer any of the questions/issues raised in Part Two. But these are (non-exhaustive) examples of the sort of questions I might ask in a final examination and are the sort of things you should know for your own satisfaction that you have profited from taking this course. 

Part One

This exercise is open book and does not require any outside research beyond our assigned texts, but you must make explicit reference to the text (and corresponding statutes) as appropriate.

In your answers, you should make references to support your answers by informal pinpoint citation to book and page number within parentheses. For example: Computer Crime Law at p. __. You do not need to use the “blue book” citation format, but I am seeking informal pinpoint citations. Your answers should indicate an understanding of the facts or issues involved (a brief description). 

There are two questions, each with sub-parts. You must answer both questions.

Question 1. 

(a)  What are the five exceptions to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement? (List them and then explain/discuss one example of your choice, from the casebook, of an exception as applied in cyberspace).

(b)  What are the six limitations on a Fourth Amendment search warrant? (List them, and then explain/discuss one example of your choice, from the casebook, of a limitation as applied in cyberspace)

Answer   1

(a)

(b)

Question 2.

 Consider Fred Felony’s computer crime at p. 4 of our casebook. What procedural laws apply, and what specific showing under the applicable law would a law enforcement officer need to provide in order legally to:

(a)  order any of the internet service providers in the chain of communications to provide disclosure of network logs that had recorded incoming IP addresses and times of every attempt to log on to an account, and associated outgoing messages, during the time that Fred might have been operating? (As might be needed to implement the “hopping back” technique from server to server, and ultimately to identify Fred, as described in the casebook at pp. 5-6). 

(Do not worry about the mechanics of matching the messages to implement the stepping-back technique, and do not worry about  jurisdictional issues: you may assume that each of the steps in the chain of communication from server to server is subject to the procedural laws we’ve covered and that the logs will suffice to get from step to step)

(b)  install at a point in a communication network a monitoring device (or a “packet sniffer”) that is configured to scan and record only “non-content” (Dialing, Routing, Addressing, or Signaling) information relating to any messages that Fred might send or receive in the future (perhaps to identify potential confederates he may have)

(c)  install at a point in a communication network a monitoring device (or a “packet sniffer”) that is configured to scan and record all information, including the content of any messages that Fred might send or receive in the future (perhaps to catch him in the act of some later illegal scheme, or to find any confederates he might have and to catch them in some illegal activity)

(d)  search and seize Fred’s computer? (and what happens if the search reveals records of some completely different crime?)

Answer   2

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)