Time-Limited Group Assignment—Cyber Crime.

Cyber crime costs consumers millions of dollars every year. It costs businesses, including banks and other credit card issuers, even more. Nonetheless, when cyber criminals are caught and convicted, they are rarely ordered to pay restitution or sentenced to long prison terms.

1. One group should formulate an argument that stiffer sentences would reduce the amount of cyber crime.

2. A second group should determine how businesspersons can best protect themselves from cyber crime and avoid the associated costs.

3. A third group should decide how and when a court should order cyber criminals to pay restitution to their victims.

Should victims whose computers have been infected with worms or viruses be entitled to restitution, or only victims of theft who have experienced financial loss? What should the measure of restitution be? Should large companies that are victims of cyber crime be entitled to the same restitution as individuals?