This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002200 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO L/LEI, EUR/PGI, AND DOJ/CCIPS. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KJUS KCRM ECON ETRD FR COE
SUBJECT: COE CYBERCRIME 
 
¶1.  Summary.  The first meeting of the Council of Europe's 
Cybercrime Convention Committee took place March 20-21, 
¶2006.  The United States (Betty Shave, U.S. Department of 
Justice) was selected as vice-chair of the meeting.  The key 
achievement of the meeting was adoption of an interpretation 
of the Convention that makes clear that it is meant to cover 
crimes committed using developing forms of technology, such 
as mobile phones and personal digital assistants, that allow 
access to the Internet and otherwise perform computer-like 
functions.  The Council of Europe Secretariat, backed by the 
United States delegation, resisted calls to offer amendments 
or protocols to the Convention.  The Committee will meet 
again in 2007. 
 
¶2.  The Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime entered 
into force in 2004.  Presently there are 12 parties and 30 
other signatories.  The United States signed the Convention 
in 2001 and a resolution of ratification is pending in the 
United States Senate.  The Council of Europe convened this 
meeting under Article 46 of the Convention, which provides 
that the parties shall consult periodically to facilitate 
the effective implementation of the Convention, the exchange 
of information on significant developments pertaining to 
cybercrime, and the consideration of possible amendment of 
the Convention. 
 
¶3.  Prominent on the agenda for the meeting were suggestions 
for possible amendments or protocols to the Convention, 
including a suggestion that the Convention needed to be 
amended to cover crimes committed using mobile telephones, 
and suggestions by Russia that (1) Article 32 of the 
Convention -- which permits a party to access computer data 
stored in another party with the consent of a person with 
lawful access to the data -- should be amended to prohibit 
such access without the state's consent; and (2) an 
additional protocol to the Convention should be considered 
to cover "cyberterrorism."  The United States opposes all of 
these efforts as unnecessary or inappropriate. 
 
¶4.  With respect to mobile telephones, the Committee adopted 
an interpretation, memorialized in the meeting minutes (COE 
document T-CY (2006) 11), stating that the term "computer 
system" in the Convention includes developing forms of 
technology such as modern mobile telephones that have among 
their functions the capacity to produce, process, and 
transmit data, such as accessing the Internet and sending 
email.  In light of this interpretation, the United States 
requested the removal of a working paper prepared by members 
of the Secretariat prior to the conference that suggested 
that an amendment to the Convention might be necessary to 
address various forms of child exploitation, such as 
transmission of child pornography and/or enticement of 
children by sexual predators ("grooming") using mobile 
telephones.  The Secretariat agreed to withdraw and revise 
the paper (with the assistance of the United States 
delegation) to emphasize how the Convention can be used to 
help combat these problems. 
 
¶5.  With respect to Russia's suggestions, the United States 
delegation was able to persuade both the Council of Europe 
Secretariat and several other key delegations that it was 
 
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too soon to consider amendments to the Convention.  The 
Secretariat effectively removed these items from the agenda. 
 
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Although Russia made brief presentations on each of its 
proposals, the Committee did not consider them. 
 
¶6.  Although not yet a party, the United States was asked by 
the parties to be vice chair of the committee, due to the 
United States' extensive experience in the field.  It was 
clear that the United States would have been asked to chair 
the meeting if it were already a party. 
 
¶7.  The Council of Europe Secretariat made clear that its 
goal was that all states of the world could become parties 
to the Convention.  (In a related matter, a representative 
of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime stated that 
her office was no longer pressing for a separate Convention 
on the topic.)  The COE described interest in the Convention 
among states in various regions, including the Americas, 
Africa, and Asia.  Ten states, including the United States, 
Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, indicated an intent 
to become parties to the Convention within the next 1-2 
years.  Russia indicated it would soon sign the Convention. 
 
¶8.  The COE, Interpol, and the United States made 
presentations on technical assistance being provided to 
countries around the world in the field of cybercrime. 
 
¶9.  The Committee decided to hold its next meeting in 2007, 
if possible before the 2007 meeting of the European 
Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC).  The CDPC is to conduct 
a review of the Convention at its 2007 plenary meeting, 
tentatively scheduled for June of that year. 
 
¶10.  This message was drafted by the United States 
delegation to the Committee. 
 
 
STAPLETON