By Abebe A. Desta [LL.B, LL.

M],
Debre Tabor University School of Law
 Brainstorming questions
 What do you think the main theme of the course are?
 What comes to your mind when you think of the term

“law of information technology?”
 Do you think we have a law-comprehensive law- on
the subject?
 Is there any challenge in regulating the “cyber world”?
 Outline of the Course
 The course is an introductory course that raises issues
of concern on the intersection of Law and Information
Technology (IT). 
 It is structured into seven(7) chapters.

1. Introduction to IT and the Law

 The meanings of Internet law, computer law and
information
 The need for the regulation of IT
 Internet governance notions and institutions
 Outline of the course cont’d…
2. Cybercrimes: Crime in cyber
space
 Notion of cybercrime

 Typologies of cybercrimes
 Emerging trends in cyber criminality

Human Rights in Cyber space:

3.
Privacy and data protection law
 Understanding data protection
 Digital surveillance and the law
 Surveillance capitalism and the law
4. Human Rights in Cyber space: Freedom of
Expression (Online)
 Digital rights and the law 
 Digital speech management: filtering and ranking
 Regulating problematic content: Hate speech, pornography
5. Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital
Age
 Copyrights in the digital environment
 Trademarks and domain names/website address
6. E-Commerce and the Law
Electronic contracts (smart contracts) and the law
Electronic signatures (digital versions of ones signature) and
the law
Consumer protection online
 7. Current Issues in the Digital

Economy
 Robotics and the law
 Block chain technology and the law
 Cyber warfare and cyber terrorism

Method of Delivery
 Consist of lecture(guest or regular) , interactive discussion and
student presentations.
 The course is a fast moving nature. Thus, students should present
and discuss such developments.
 Chapter One: Introduction to IT
and the Law

1.1 Unpacking Terminologies: Internet law, IT law,
Computer law or Information
 IT Law also named computer law or cyber law refers
to “the overall system that deals with the internet,
cyberspace, and their respective legal issues”.
 It encompasses all laws, cases, and constitutional
provisions that affect persons and institutions, who
control the entry to cyberspace, provide access to
cyberspace, create the hardwire and soft wire which
enable people to access cyberspace or use their own
devices to go online and enter cyberspace.
 It is shortly a law that regulate the “cyberspace” or “cyber
world”.= ዓለመ ኮምፒውተር


 Cyber is a prefix used to denote a person, thing or idea as part of the
computer or information age.
 It comes from a Greek Word kybernates- which means
―steersman‖ or ―governor‖
 Cyberspace indicates the virtual world of internet and the
laws governing such area are known as cyber laws
 A person who uses the internet, especially, as a forum for the
expression of views and participation in political society is
called a netizen; coined by couple researchers (Michael and
Ronda) in 1990 while studying the social and political
implication of internet.
 It includes the internet, website, computer, networks, software,
data storage devices, e-mails, mobile phones, ATM machines.
 Cyber law – a law governing computers and the internet.
Events taking place on the internet are not
happening in the locations where participants or

servers are physically located but in “cyberspace”.
Cyberspace is the place where a telephone
conversation appears to occur.
 Not inside your actual phone, the plastic device on
your phone. Not inside the other person‘s phone, in
some other city. The place between the phones.

 Internet
 Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that
use the Standardized Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP).

 It is a network of networks that consist of millions of private and
public, academic, business, and government networks of local to
global scope that are linked by Copper-wires, fiber-optic cables, wire-
less connections, and other technologies.
 Internet carries a vast array of information, resources and services,
most notably, the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World
Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic
mail, in addition to popular services like online chat, file transfer
and file sharing, online gaming and Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP) person-to-person communication via voice and video.
 Computer network[የኮምፒዩተር
አውታር ]
የኮምፒዩተር አውታር ማሇት ሁሇት ወይም ከሁሇት በሊይ
የሆኑ ኮምፒዩተሮችን ማገናኘት ነው።

 እነዚህ ኮምፒዩተሮች ሲገናኙ መረጃ መሇዋወጥ ይቻሊሌ።
አውታሩ ውስጥ ያለት ኮምፒዩተሮች በአንድ ክፍሌ ውስጥ
ወይም በጣም በተራራቁ ሕንጻዎች ውስጥ ሉገኙ ይችሊለ።
ኮምፒዩተሮቹ በኤላትሪክ ገመድ ፣ በገመድ የሇሽ ግንኙነት
ወይም በሞደም ሉገናኙ ይችሊለ።
ስሇዚህ ዓሇመ-ኮምፒውተር- ማሇት ሰዎች በግዚፋዊው አሇም
የሚሰሩትን ስራ በተሻሇ እና በተቀሊጠፈ መንገድ የሚከውን
የኮምፒውተሮች (ትስስር) ግንኙነት ነው፡፡
 Who Invented it? When?
It was invented in 1989 by the English
physicist Tim Berners-Lee, now the Director

of the World Wide Web Consortium, and
later assisted by Robert Cailliau, a Belgian
computer scientist, while both were working
at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.
Since then internet users expanded
throughout the globe thereby making it an
indispensable utility in human beings every
aspect of life.
 Currently about 1.4 billion people (around
25 %) are connected to the internet globally.
 Further a period of Civilization Funding of a new U.S
backbone by the National Science Foundation spawned

world wide participation in the development of new
networking technologies .
 In the mid 1990‘s the research‘s resulted in to the creation of
international network and its commercialization.
 Internet and World Wide Web are two different things.
 Internet – is a global data communications system. It is a
hard ware and soft ware infrastructure that provides
connectivity between computers.
 Conversely, Web is one of the services connected through
the internet.
 It is a collection of interconnected documents and other
resources , linked by hyperlinks and Uniform Resource
Locator (URLs).
From 2000 to 2008 Internet has expanded at 290
percent.

As time went on technologies have become more
and more user friendly and an increasing number
of people are using them.
This also opens a room for cyber criminals.
Technology breeds new sorts of crimes that were
not imaginable a few years ago.
Digital criminals could cause a considerable
damage to individuals, companies and governments
from places unheard of.
 Why cyber law? Justifications
 Highly digitalized world
Laws are necessary in all segments of

society, and e-commerce is no exception.
All the internet users including minors,
need to be assured of their privacy and the
safety of their personal information online.
All organizations depend upon their
computer networks and keep their
valuable data in electronic form.
Government forms including income
tax returns, company law forms e.t.c are

nowadays filled in electronic form.
Internet, e-mail, mobile phone, and SMS
are widely used for communications
Even in non-cyber cases, important evidence
is found in computer/mobile phones (e.g.
incase of murder, kidnapping etc.)
One author proposed that “In future, “there is No
Business without e-business”, there will be no room

for any corporate professional without a basic
understanding of “Cyber Laws”.
Hence Cyber law literacy amongst professionals
such as Chartered accountants, Company
Secretaries, Bankers, Insurance Professionals, Law
Enforcement officers, and e-governance officials is
as essential as the study of Company Law or
Contract Law.
 Features of Cyberspace
 Just like the real world, comprises the entire earth,
cyberspace consists of the entire virtual world.


 The computers and internet technology are expanding the
boundaries of cyberspace day by day.
 It is very easy to roam around in the cyberspace.
 The speed is tremendous and the reach is unlimited.
 It is easy to enter and exit.
 Very fewer resources are needed to enter cyberspace.
 Cyberspace and the real world impact each other.
 It is easy to disguise one‟s identity in cyberspace.
 As a new world where the real world human interactions
are virtually undertaken, law should also be dynamic that
guarantee assurance to users, empowerment to law
enforcement agencies and deterrence to criminals.
 Critics?
 Technology is serving, modeling and
insulating the elite, while diverting or

narcotizing the masses with entertainment
and marginalizing the poor.
 Loss of jobs?
Digital dictatorships?
 Societal and cultural hardships?
 Cyber Law in Ethiopia
 It was during Emperor Menelik‘s reign that telephone
services were introduced in Ethiopia. It was introduced soon
after its invention.

 Yet internet was introduced in the country in 1997 with
limited access.
 In 2005 the first 4000 kilometers of fiber optic backbone were
laid in Addis Ababa, the Capital.
 Since then, its access proliferated in to different dimensions
of the country.
 The recent data from the Ethiopian government claims that
Internet Penetration has reached 5.5% as of December
31,2013.
 To day 16.7 % of total population uses internet.
 The slow pace of internet expansion, it is assumed that,
affected the legislative measures that would have been made
to regulate.
 Cyber Laws in Ethiopia
 The 2004 Criminal Code of Ethiopia was the first to
criminalize ― a short list of Computer crimes most notably-
computer hacking, spreading malware, and Denial of Service
(DoS) attacks. 
 Then comes the Telecom Fraud offence Law (proclamation
No.761/2012) that deals with frauds committed through the
use of telecom networks and services.
 The Telecommunications proclamation No.49/1996 (as
amended in 2002) also regulated telecom services and related
equipment.
 The Computer Crimes Proclamation, Proc.No.958/2016.
 The country also has a Draft Data Protection Act,
 The Information Society & Regulation
 To day , IT permeated in every profession. Thus, almost
all commercial, industrial, or organizational activity

would be difficult, if not impossible, to function without
the use of IT.
 For the law, the advancement and proliferation of IT,
computers and electronic communications networks
have been a mixed blessing.
 They have become indispensable tools, allowing the use of
massive information storage, processing, dissemination,
searching and retrieval.
 Technology have posed and continue to pose novel and
complex social and legal problems.
 Frequently, the law has been found wanting when dealing with
the issues raised by these constantly evolving technologies, and
legislators and the courts have often struggled to come to terms
with the challenges raised by them.
 Internet has posed a new set of challenges, in particular, on
Intellectual Property Rights(IPRs), cyber crimes of multitude

nature, jurisdiction, and institutional setups that regulate the
IT systems.
 Information society is a society where information
technologies influence the everyday lives of most of its
members.
 Helped by the advance of the internet and a ‗wired‘ culture,
technology is used for a wide range of personal, social,
educational, and business activities and to transmit, receive
and exchange digital data rapidly between places despite
great distances.
 In an information society, information is as powerful a
resource as the manufacturing and agricultural industries
were in previous eras.

 It is also known as ― the knowledge economy, digital era or
information superhighway”.
 It is a common sense observation that we are in an intense
social change.
 The west (and to some extent the east and southern part of
the globe) is currently experiencing a profound shift from an
industrial society – to – a post industrial, information
society.
 An inclusive global information society is one where all
persons, without distinction, are empowered freely to create,
receive, share, and utilize information and knowledge for
their social, economic, cultural and political development.
 Information Society cont’d
 Information society is a society in which the
creation, distribution, diffusion, use, integration

and manipulation of information is a significant
economic, political, and cultural activity.
 The Knowledge economy is its economic
counterpart whereby wealth is created through
the economic exploitation of understanding.
 In information society, IT plays a central role in
the production, economy, and society at large.
 Information society is seen as a successor to
industrial society.
 Why Law? Rationales of Regulation
Law is instrumental: it needs to
regulate societal developments.

….. While protecting us from the State
and from Ourselves- fellow human
beings.
Law cannot create, nor it should, dictate
a reality.
The information society is a reality.
Law should enable it to develop: not
impede it….
 What Needs to be Regulated?
 1. Common resources and infrastructure
 2. The flow of information

 3. Protect the new environment
 1. Common Resources and
Infrastructure
Air waves, networks, and other spectrums of
IT are all limited ; allowing to be

monopolized is unfair and hampers
development.
E.g. the telecommunication laws and other
accessory legislations are useful for:
 To create favorable conditions for
development
 Regulate the use of LIMITED RESOURCES
through purposeful planning.
 Create a level playing field for all market
players.
 2. The flow of information
 Some countries have the so-called ―State Secret
Acts‖, freedom of information laws,

 Protection of the individual
 Copy right and patent laws as a protection of
individual property rights.
 Information to day is ―a right‖- a basic
constitutional right of everyone.
 Personal data needs to be protected.
 Personal data – indicates any information relating to
an identified or identifiable natural person(Data
subject).

 An identifiable person is one who can be
identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by

reference to an identification number or to one
or more factors specific to his physical,
physiological, mental, economic, cultural or
social identity.
Personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin,
political opinions, religious or
political/philosophical belief, trade-union
membership, and the processing of data
concerning health and sexual life…. Should not
be processed in principle.
 We do have, however, exceptions based on
certain conditions.
 3. Protect the New Environment
 Development needs to be facilitated.
 Certain interests needs to be protected.

 E.g. the public interest, the interest of private
individuals like copyright, the interest of
vulnerable like children, demand protection.
 Internet Governance: Notions &
Institutions
 Regulation is a targeted intervention of the government through,
for example, laws , to achieve some sort of public interest or


outcome.

Underpinning technical infrastructure, applications, services and
content is a complex system of institutions, actors, mechanisms,
and rules that govern how the internet works- termed ―Internet
governance‖.
 In the beginning, it was supposed that internet should not be
regulated. Liberalism (internet freedom) was the approach
proposed by individuals and NGO‘s alike.
 This was also called ―the hands off‖ approach.
 However, as time went on and the economic, social, and political
utility of internet has grown too fast, and the number of uses and
users outgrown the liberalism approach become unrealistic.
 The need to balance between internet freedom and regulation has
become inevitable.
 While protecting privacy, anonymity and private
communication was vital with respect to the formation of

public opinion and the possibility for social or political
dissent, it was equally important to expose those who post
criminal content, threaten other users and transmit hate
speech.
 This calls for the regulatory intervention of the government
via different approaches.
 The merger of biotech and InfoTech has become also one of
the biggest challenges human beings have ever faced.
 Biotech- refers to a technology that uses biological systems,
living organisms, or parts of this to develop or create
different products.
 E.g. the use of yeast to produce bread, the use of human
hormones etc…. to create new or modified creatures.
 Divergence of Regulatory
Ways
 European countries, because of their liberal ideology come
forward with legislation that tries to protect privacy and

copyright laws and contain hate speech.
 Others like China and Russia, prefer to actively censor the
internet both on the application and content layer and
create sophisticated and all-encompassing means of
surveillance & control which threaten freedom, democracy,
and pluralism.
 Doing so, however, was a delicate matter for both sides.
 Thus, we do have a Multi-stakeholder Versus (Inter)
Governmental Control Models, Free and Open Vs.
Fragmentation Models of Regulation.
 Multistakeholder vs. (Inter)Governmental
Control
 The Question of Power: Who should have how much


influence and control over the internet‘s layers and decision-
making processes?
 This debate has two camps: On the one hand, the USA and
many Western Countries, as well as Private Companies,
favor the Multistakeholder approach where all stakeholders
affected by the internet should be allowed to participate in its
governance.
 Main proposition- the very nature of the internet, as
decentralized, global and open system makes it too complex
to be governed by governments alone and,
 As such giving states too much control would pose the
danger of restricted civil rights and liberties.
 On the other hand, Governments such as China and Russia,
demand an increasing role for governments in internet

governance, particularly, to fight cyber terrorism and
controlling data.
 They contend that
governments have more legitimacy than
nongovernmental organizations or the private sector
in governing something as important as the Internet.
 Further, they not only promote the idea of
„cyberspace sovereignty‟ where states exercise
control
over the Internet within their borders, but they are
also trying to export this model to other countries.
 This ideological camp has been going for decades as
illustrated in a number of attempts to shift the responsibility

of the Domain Name System(DNS) from Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN), a
non-profit organization based in USA, to the International
Telecommunications Union(ITU), a UN body.
 ICANN provides a unique identifier to each website and
enables the usage of e-mail addresses.
 The Multistakeholder approach faced critics of the
following sorts.
 Critics of Multistakeholder

Model
The selection of ICANN‘s board members remain unknown
to the public.


As a Non –governmental, private organization, ICANN, is
ill-suited position to fulfill a public interest function, as it
lacks perceived legitimacy from states and internet users.
 ITU with its 193 member-states with voting rights and more
than 700 sector members and associates can more
democratically manage the DNS than ICANN and other non-
elected entities.
 The Internet Governance Forum(IGF), the main mechanism
for info.sharing and debate on internet governance lacks a
decision making authority and its influence on national
policy making is limited.
 The weak participation of developing countries to air their
concerns into the forum.
 Free and Open Vs.

Fragmentation
Advocates of Multistakeholder model usually argue for
globally free and open internet.

 “Free and Open” suggests that information should flow across
networks with no limitations, that everyone should have equal
access to the internet and that they should be able to use it in any
way they see fit, without any special permission by anyone.
 This entails “a hands off” approach that preclude too much gov’t
intervention into the management, development and regulation of
the internet.
 It played a central role in internet’s early age and play a big role for
the astonishing growth of internet in every aspect of life.
 The Fragmentation Model
 Increased regulation of internet over the globe created a
concern that internet might be fragmented in to several

loosely coupled networks or islands of connectivity.
 Such fragmentation, a departure from Free and Open
approach to internet governance can be observed in to forms:
Technical fragmentation and government fragmentation.
 Technical fragmentation of Internet indicates the separation
of basic infrastructure, and logistics layers of internet wires,
protocols and root servers.
 Widespread technical fragmentation would eliminate the
global network of networks and replace it with a kind of
multiverse of local, national or regional networks with no
information flow between them.
 Government fragmentation
 Government Fragmentation- on the other hand indicates
government policies and laws that influence the degree to w/c it

is possible to create, distribute or access information online.
 It includes regulation of content, blocking access to certain
services, or websites based on their location, by using internet as
a means for mass surveillance.
 Increased gov‟t fragmentation could lead to a multitude of
national interests with so-called digital border, w/c to some
extent become a reality to day.
 Generally, the open and free internet seems to be a flawed
approach, since some of our rights in the physical world needs
to be protected in the virtual world too.
 SOCIALIST AUTHORITARIAN gov‟ts like Russia and China‟s
approach to State-Dominated Internet governance has also its
own hitches like using IT to repress citizens and fragmentation
of the global network of networks.
 The Future of Internet
Governance?
 QUESTIONS


 What would be the future of Internet Governance?
 Do you think it would be healthy and convenient for all
stakeholders like citizens, government(developed Vs.
developing) and private companies? Can governments
regulate the bad sides of the internet?
 Take the case in Ethiopia and discuss with your friends?

 What do you think the future potential adverse impact of IT

and biotech in our personal, political, social and work life?
 CHAPTER TWO
CRIME IN
CYBERSPACE:CYBERCRIMES

 In this chapter we will discuss:
 The Meaning of cybercrime.
 Typologies of cybercrime and
 Emerging trends in cyber criminality.
 Meaning of cybercrime
In the broadest sense, ―crime is a deviant
behaviour from the norms of the society‖

and in this context , any action that is deviant
of the accepted behavioural norms of a
―Cyber Society‖ can be called a Cyber Crime.
Cybercrime indicates violations of criminal law
perpetrated online or using the Internet, or
computer as an instrumentality.
It is the use of Internet and related technologies
to commit crimes.
 Cybercrime respects no national borders and is
often difficult to detect because although

online criminals sometimes leave digital
footprints, there is no traditional crime scene.
 Internet has lowered the barriers of
perpetuating brick and mortar crimes because
the victims personal information is posted in the
website.
 Illustration
E.g. BBC (on 23 December 2010) reported that

an Australian teenager posted a picture of a
massive cache of cash that she was helping to
count. Within hours, masked men appeared at
the door and demanded the money at gunpoint.
Similar incidents occurred in Europe that
forced the police to announce the public that
posting detailed sensitive information online
have a risk of burglary.
 The perpetrators identity, however, is hardly
possible to trace.
 Internet has also created new categories of crime such as
virtual trespass, identity theft, online stalking, hacking into

websites, and the misappropriation of intangible data.
 The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical
objects or “things” that employs software to connect to
Internet-related devices.
 With the IoT, “your smartphone will be able to lock your
house, turn on the air conditioning, check whether the milk
is out of date, or even heat up your iron.”
 Nevertheless, IoT also creates the possibility of hackers
taking over “home life, gathering valuable personal data, or
even use stolen information to extort money from victims.”
 Nature of Computer Crimes
Computer crimes are often more difficult to
detect and resolve than crime in

the streets. Most cybercriminals are not
physically present at the crime scene.
The Internet enables anonymous communications
that are difficult to trace because of false e-mail
headers and anonymous re-mailers.
Relational crimes are easier to prosecute in the
physical world because police can focus on
multiple physical clues and eliminate suspects
who were not in the area when the crime
was committed.

 Internet crimes may involve creating small economic
losses for many consumers, making it unlikely that any

one victim will report it or file a claim.
Victims may be unaware that their information
or identity has been stolen until long after the
crime has been completed.
Research indicates that it takes 200 days for
victims of cybercrime to be cognizant of the
scene.
The criminal have a greater degree of skill &
knowledge than the level of skill & knowledge
possessed by an average computer user.
Taking effective measures to tackle the problem
is hardly possible. This is because of

1)The current perspectives of criminology that
link criminal behaviour with “marginality” and
“social exclusion” have no use in explaining the
motives of cyber criminals.
2) The “anti-spacial” nature of internet makes it
difficult to relate the crime to a certain geographic
area, distinctive social or cultural group.
 Magnitude of the Problem
 The precise no. of cyber attacks and their estimated loss is
not certainly known.

 The reasons for the lack of exact figure are two fold: one
holds that the figure is underreported because of the fear
of loss of good will & public trust on the side of the victims
, whereas the other claims that security companies
exaggerate the level of cybercrime as they have a vested
interest in doing so.
 Thus, estimates vary, the recent data estimates, for
instance, ranges from US$100billion to $1 trillion.
 The FBI has ranked cybercrime as the third biggest
threat to US national security after nuclear war and
weapons of mass destruction.
A single wave of cyber attacks on US infrastructure could
US $700 billion, which is about the same as the

costs associated with 50 major hurricanes.
In 2008 alone it was estimated that more than 20
million malicious programs such as viruses,
worms and Trojans were created.
 The case in developing and LDCs is severe because
1) the technological advancement, legal and law
enforcement is at its infancy and 2) the people
are plagued by techonological-illitracy for
reporting and prevention endeavors.
Question: Do you think cyber crime is a threat
to Ethiopia? Why?
 Typologies of Cybercrimes
 The classification of cyber crimes resembles
the types of crimes in the ordinary criminal
code.

 Question 1 How many types of crimes do you
remember in the ordinary (2004 Criminal Code) of
FDRE?
 Discuss the question for three minutes in buzz
group discussion.
 Question 2 Relate the classification adopted under
the ordinary Criminal Code to the context of
cybercrimes ?
 Typology cont‘d
The 2004 Revised Criminal Code of Ethiopia
classified crimes in the following manner.

 1. Crime against the State, national or int’l
interest [Book 3]
2. Crime Against individuals and the family
[Book 4]
 3. >> >> property [Book 5]
 4. Petty offences against State, individuals and
the family and against property.
 Typology of cybercrimes cont‘d
 Generally, cybercrimes can be of either

the following sorts.
 1. Cyber crimes against person
 2. Cyber crimes against property
and
 3. Cyber crimes against
government.
 Any type of crime(cyber) falls in to
these generic categories.
 Experience of UK
 The UK Law Enforcement agencies sort crimes involving
computers into three categories based on Computer‟s

relation with the crime.
 I) A computer can be a target of criminal activity, for
example, when a computer is a victim of denial-of –
service attack, or when the laptop is stolen. Other
examples include:

 II) Computers can act as an intermediary medium,
where the computer is used as a vehicle for crime

against a business or individual, for example,
hacking into a website to steal documents or funds.
In addition,
 Fraudulent use of ATM machine cards and
accounts, theft of money from accrual, conversion,
or transfer accounts, credit card fraud, fraud
from computer transaction (stock transfer,
sales, or billing), and telecommunications
fraud.
 III) Computer may be used as an intermediary
facilitator, e.g., when criminals use the computer for

activities that are related to the crime, but are not in
themselves criminal, such as planning and research.
 Here Computer is Incidental to Other Crimes:
money laundering and unlawful
banking transactions, organized crime
records or books, and bookmaking
 This being, the classification of cybercrimes, the
time now is for further scrutiny of these crimes.
As a medium, the computer can perform as the
criminal’s modus operandi, and as an intermediary,
computer systems act as a buffer between offenders and

their victims, affecting how an offence is undertaken or
executed.
As a facilitator, a computer can enable
communications between offenders in a globally
accessible space which is near relatively instantaneous.
 When the computer performs as an offending
medium, the offender victim/conspirator contact must
be considered, whereas when it acts as an offending
facilitator, it aids the contacts between offenders.
 Cybercrimes in the Budapest Convention
 In 2001 the Council of Europe(CoE) adopted a Convention on Cyber
Crime Treaty, called the Budapest Convention, identified several
offences as cybercrimes.

1)Intentional access without right to the whole
part of any computer system.
2) Intentional interception, without right, of non-
public transmissions of computer data.
3) Intentional damage, deletions, deterioration,
alteration, or suppression of computer data without
right.
4) Intentional and serious hindering of the
function of a computer system by inputting,
transmitting, damaging, deleting, deterioration,
altering, or suppressing computer data.
5) The production, sale, procurement for use,
importation, or distribution of devices designed to
commit any of the above crimes, or of passwords or
similar data used to access computer systems, with
the intent of committing any of the above crimes.
In 2006, Additional Protocol to the Convention
came in to force and include the following crimes.

Dissemination of racist and xenophobic
material through computer systems, as well
as threats and insults motivated by racism or
xenophobia.
 To be more specific, cyber crimes can be grouped into these 4
categories.
 A. Cyber –Trespass- crossing of cyber boundaries into other
people‘s computer system into spaces where rights of
ownership or title have already been established & causing
damage. E.g. Hacking and virus distribution.
 B. Cyber deceptions & Thefts
 The different types of acquisitive harm that can takes place within
cyberspace.
 At one level lie a more traditional patterns of theft, such as

fraudulent use of credit cards, and cyber cash or raiding online bank
accounts as e-banking become more common.
 C. Cyber- Pornography- the breaching of laws on obscenity &
decency.
 D. Cyber- Violence-the violent impact of the cyber activities of
others upon individual, social or political grouping.
 It includes cyber-stalking and hate-speech, to
tech-talk.
 E. Crime Against the State -encompassing those activities that
breach laws which protect the integrity of the nation’s
infrastructure, like terrorism, espionage, money laundering and
disclosure of state secrets.
 Cybercrime Categories
 1. Phishing(Spoofing) – an the act of attempting to
trick customers into disclosing their personal security

information; their credit card numbers, bank account
details, or other sensitive information by
masquerading as trustworthy businesses in an e-
mail.
Their messages may ask the recipients to “update,”
“validate,” or “confirm” their account information.
Phishing is a two time scam, first steals a company’s
identity and then use it to victimize consumers by
stealing their credit identities.

 Phishing Cont’d
Sending mass-mails to thousands of potential
victims increases the chance of getting some one
hooked. 
There are usually three separate steps
in order for such attacks to work,
these are:
1. Setting up a mimic web site.
2. Sending out a convincingly fake e-
mail, luring the users to that mimic
site.
3.Getting information then redirect
users to the real site.
 1.1 Vishing (Voice phishing)
A type of cyber attack that uses voice &
telephony technologies to trick targeted

individuals into revealing sensitive data to
unauthorized entities.
Is a type of phishing that involves defrauding
people over the phone, enticing them to divulge
sensitive information.
 Scammers who carry out vishing
campaigns use an assortment of tactics
to get their targets to divulge
confidential information, such as
personal information or details about
a financial account.
 1.2 Techniques of Vishing/Examples
 Examples of vishing include the following.
 Impersonating a government representative,
 Tech support fraud,
 Bank impersonation,

 Telemarketing attack,
 Alert from a financial institution,
 Offers for investments and other financial solutions,
social security number or health plan verification,
 Solving a problem with your account, a demand for
payment, technical support, enrollment scams, and
collecting an award or special offer.
 2. Spam
 Spam mail, is arguably the most profound product of the
Internet’s ability to place unprecedented power into the hands of
a single person. 
 Spam mail is the distribution of bulk e-mails that advertise
products, services or investment schemes, which may well turn
out to be fraudulent.
 The purpose of spam mail is to trick or con customers into
believing that they are going to receive a genuine product or
service, usually at a reduced price.
 However, the spammer asks for money or sensible security
information like credit card number or other personal information
before the deal occur.
 Mostly common in election times to defraud voters via
misinformation.
 Spam Vs. Phishing
Spam and phishing are not the same.

Spam refers to unwanted and unsolicited messages,
while phishing is a type of social engineering attack
where attackers use fraudulent messages to trick
victims into divulging sensitive information or
performing an action.
While spam is usually harmless, phishing has
malicious intent.

 3. Hacking
 Is “the unauthorized access and subsequent use of other people‟s computer
systems”(Yale, 2006).
 Initially, hacking was born out of the love of technology and a compelling


need to know how it all worked, and their goal was to push programs
beyond what they were designed to do.
 It takes place in several phases such as “information gathering or
reconnaissance, scanning and finally entering into the target system.”
 Information gathering- involves methods of obtaining information or to
open security holes. It is just like the way in which the traditional type
of robbery is carried out.
 The robber will find out the whole information about the place that
wants to rob before making attempt. Just like this the computer attacker
will try to find out information about the target.
 They employ social engineering (the act of exploiting human
weaknesses to gain access to personal information and protected
systems), to obtain information about the target.
 All sorts of Social Engineering attempts could be either,
Computer or technology based deception, or Human based
deception.

 The technology-based approach is to deceive the user
into believing that is interacting with the “real” computer
system (such as popup window, informing the user that
the computer application has had a problem) and get the
user to provide confidential information.
 The human approach is done through deception,
by taking advantage of the victim’s ignorance, and the
natural human inclination to be helpful and liked.
 Summary
 Hacking is the act of compromising digital devices and
networks through unauthorized access to an account
or computer system.

 It involves using technical skills to break into
computer systems and access sensitive data.
 Hacking is not always a malicious act, but it is most
commonly associated with illegal activity and data theft
by cybercriminals.
 Hacking can also be done for ethical reasons, such as
trying to find software vulnerabilities so they can be
fixed.
 Hacking can take many forms, including installing
malware, stealing or destroying data, disrupting
service, and more.
 4. Cyber Harassment or Bullying
 The use of electronic information and communication
devices such as e-mail, instant messaging, text messages,

blogs, mobile phones, pagers, instant messages and
defamatory websites to bully or otherwise harass an
individual or group through personal attacks or other means.
 In the physical fight there is a start and an end, but in bullying the
bullying & torture follows your home, that makes it dangerous.
 Cyber bullying, taunts, insults and harassment over the
Internet or text message sent from the mobile phones is
rampant among young people.
 Prevalent in the social media like face book, telegram, etc.
 5. Identity Theft
 The act of obtaining sensitive information about another
person without his or her knowledge, and using this

information to commit theft or fraud.
 The Internet has given cyber criminals
the opportunity to obtain such information from
vulnerable companies’ database.
 It has also enabled them to lead the victims to believe
that they are disclosing sensitive personal information to
a legitimate business; sometimes as a response to an e-
mail asking to update billing or membership information;
sometimes it takes the form
of an application to a (fraudulent) Internet job posting.
 It is the crime of obtaining the personal or financial

information of another person to use their identity to
commit fraud, such as making unauthorized
transactions or purchases.
Identity theft can be committed in many different
ways, including stealing personal or financial
information, sifting through trash bins, and shoulder
surfing.
The most common types of identity theft include
financial identity theft, criminal identity theft, and
medical identity theft.
 6. Internet Auction Fraud
 When items bought are fake or stolen goods, or when seller
 advertises nonexistent items for sale which means goods are
paid for but never arrives. 
 Fraudsters often use money transfer services as it is easier for
them to receive money without revealing their true identity.
 Internet auction fraud is a type of online scam where a seller posts an
item for sale on an online auction site, but does not deliver the item
after receiving payment.
 The Chinese, Indians are famous in this type of cybercrime.
Auction fraud is a classic example of criminals
relies on the anonymity of the internet.

According to action fraud 2013, some of the
most common complaints involve:
• Buyers receiving goods late, or not at all
• Sellers not receiving payment
• Buyers receiving goods that are either less
valuable than those advertised or significantly
different from the original description
• Failure to disclose relevant information about
a product or the terms of sale.
These fraudulent “sellers” use stolen IDs when
they register with the auction sites, therefore
tracing them is generally a very difficult tasks.
 7. Child Pornography
 Child pornography is a form of cybercrime
that involves the exploitation or sexual abuse
of children. 
 It can be defined as any means of depicting or
promoting sexual abuse of a child, including
print and/or audio, centered on sex acts or the
genital organs of children.
 Child sexual abuse in production and
distribution is a serious issue, and some child
pornographers use viruses to illegally gain
control of computers on which they remotely
store child pornography.
 Cybersex trafficking is another form of child pornography
where victims are forced into live streaming, pornographic
exploitation on webcam which can be recorded and later
sold.

 Police agencies have deployed trained staff to track child
pornography files and the computers used to share them as
they are distributed on the Internet, and they freely share
identifying information for the computers and users
internationally.
 Question? Have you heard about revenge pornography?
 The sharing or distribution of any nude or sexually explicit
material of someone without their permission or consent with
the express purpose of humiliating or ―getting back‖ at them.
 Some European and American States have laws against it.
South Africa also recently enacted a legislation against RP.
 E.g. the recent case of South African Minister of Home
Affairs Malusi Kigaba.
 8. Dissemination of Malware
 Virus- a virus is a program that can infect other programs by
modifying them to include a possible copy of itself.

 It can spread through a computer or network using the
authorization of every user using it to infect their program.
 Worms – unlike viruses computer worms are malicious
programs that copy themselves from system to system using
computer networks.
 Trojans- used to create back doors on computers that allows
a hacker to have access on the computer without the
knowledge of the user.
 Hoax- it is an email that warns the user of a certain system
that is harming the computer. The message thereafter
instructs the user to run a program, when done it invades the
system and delete important file.
Named After Homer‘s Odyssey &Aeneid by
Virgil- two ancient greek’s Historian &poets.
Greek heroic warriors Vs. Walled City of
Troy

 Spyware- spyware invades the computer and monitors the
user activities. These are usually forwarded through e-mails.


 Information warfare- a kind of war where an authorized
access of information and attacks on information and its
system are used as tool by the opponents.
 It includes data interception, data modification, data theft.
 Some malwares delete files, and others hide data, or
overwrite (replace information in (a computer file) with
new information.
 The Chinese are notorious for such acts owing to their
competition(cut throat) with Europe and America.
 9. Cyber Terrorism
 The notion emerged in 1990 as the US the National
Academy of Science began report on computer security in

words… ―We are at risk. Increasingly, America depends on
computers. . . . Tomorrow’s terrorist may be able to do more
damage with a keyboard than with a bomb.”
 At the same time, the prototypical term ―electronic Pearl
Harbor‖ was coined, linking the threat of a computer attack
to an American historical trauma.‖
 According to Dorothy Denning, a professor of Computer
Science, Cyber terrorism is the convergence of cyberspace
and terrorism.
 It refers to unlawful attacks and threats of attacks against
computers, networks and the information stored therein
when done to intimidate or coerce a government or its
people in furtherance of political or social objectives.
Further, to qualify as cyber terrorism, an
attack should result in violence against

persons or property, or at least cause enough
harm to generate fear.
Attacks that lead to death or bodily injury,
explosions, or severe economic loss would be
examples.
Serious attacks against critical infrastructures
could be acts of cyber terrorism, depending
on their impact.
Attacks that disrupt nonessential services or
that are mainly a costly nuisance would not.
 The Appeal of Cyber Terrorism for
Terrorists
1. It is cheaper than traditional terrorist methods. All that the
terrorist needs is a personal computer and an online
connection.

2. Cyber terrorism is more anonymous than traditional
terrorist methods. Like many Internet surfers, terrorists use
online nicknames—‖screen names‖—or log on to a website as
an unidentified ―guest user,‖ making it very hard for security
agencies and police forces to track down the terrorists‘ real
identity. And in cyberspace there are no physical barriers such
as checkpoints to navigate, no borders to cross, and no customs
agents to outsmart.
3. The variety and number of targets are enormous. The cyber
terrorist could target the computers and computer networks of
governments, individuals, public utilities, private airlines, and
so forth.
4. cyber terrorism can be conducted remotely, a
feature that is especially appealing to terrorists.

Cyber terrorism requires less physical training,
psychological investment, risk of mortality, and
travel than conventional forms of terrorism, making
it easier for terrorist organizations to recruit and
retain followers.
5. As the I LOVE YOU virus showed, cyber
terrorism has the potential to affect directly a larger
number of people than traditional terrorist methods,
thereby generating greater media coverage, which is
ultimately what terrorists want.
 Cyber Attack Methods &Tools
 Any Internet-based application is a potential carrier
for worms and other malware; therefore Internet

messaging is not exceptional.
 Criminals use these common chat methods for ID
theft purposes by getting to know the individuals
who they are communicating with or via the
spreading of malware, spyware, and viruses.
 E-mails are a critical tool in the hands of criminals.
 Not only is e-mail one of the fastest and cheapest
mediums form spamming and phishing, but they are
easily manipulated into carrying deadly virus attacks
capable of destroying an entire corporate network
within minutes.
 Some viruses are transmitted through harmless-
looking e-mail messages and can run
automatically without the need for user
intervention
Love You” virus).
(like  the “I

 ―I Love You‖- Virus also named Love Bug, or Love Letter for You,
a computer worm that infected over 50 million windows personal
computers on and after 5 may 2000.
 It started spreading as an email message with the subject line
"ILOVEYOU" and the attachment "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-
YOU.TXT.vbs.―
 When opened, first, the worm inflicts damage on the local
machine, overwriting random files (including Office files and image
files; however, it hides MP3 files instead of deleting them), then, it
copies itself to all addresses in the Windows Address Book used
by Microsoft Outlook, allowing it to spread much faster than any
other previous email worm.
 Onel de Guzman, a then-24-year-old resident
of Manila, Philippines, created the malware.

 De Guzman, who was poor and struggling to pay for Internet
access at the time, created the computer worm intending to
steal other users' passwords, which he could use to log in to
their Internet accounts without needing to pay for the service.
He justified his actions on his belief that Internet access is a
human right and that he was not actually stealing.
 Originally designing the worm to only work in Manila, he
removed this geographic restriction out of curiosity, which
allowed the worm to spread worldwide. De Guzman did not
expect this worldwide spread.
 The worm originated in the Pandacan neighborhood of Manila in
the Philippines on 4 May 2000, thereafter following daybreak
westward across the world as employees began their workday that

Friday morning, moving first to Hong Kong, then to Europe, and
finally the United States.
 The outbreak was later estimated to have caused US$5.5–8.7
billion in damages worldwide, and estimated to cost US$10–15
billion to remove the worm. Within ten days, over fifty million
infections had been reported, and it is estimated that 10% of
Internet-connected computers in the world had been affected.
 To protect themselves, The Pentagon, CIA, the British
Parliament and most large corporations decided to completely shut
down their mail systems. At the time, it was one of the world's most
destructive computer related disasters ever.
 It was a buzz word in the media and the general public.
 Pet Shop Boys in England released lyrics – ―Email‖ one of top ten
UK’s albums of 2002.
 A virus is a program or code that replicates itself onto other files with
which it comes into contact.
 A virus can damage an infected computer by wiping out databases or

files, damaging important computer parts, such as Bios, or forwarding
a pornographic message to everyone listed in the e-mail address book
of an infected
computer.
 2007 was the year when botnets were first used. A bot is shot from
robot where cyber criminals take over control of their victim’s
computer without his or her knowledge.
 This occurs when cyber criminals or hackers install programs in the
target’s computer through a worm or a virus. Collections of these
infected computers are
called botnets.
 Botnet was said to be relatively cheap, as it was mostly
infecting computers in less developed countries, which
have less security measures installed on them.
A keylogger is a software program or hardware
device that is used to monitor and log each of the

keys a user types into a computer keyboard. The
user who installed the program or hardware device
can then view all keys typed in by that user.
Because these programs and hardware devices
monitor the keys entered, a hacker user can easily
find user passwords and other information a user
may wish and believe to be private.
Keyloggers, as a surveillance tool, are often used
by employers to ensure employees use work
computers for business purposes only.
 Unfortunately, Keyloggers can also be embedded in
spyware, allowing information to be transmitted to an
unknown third party.

 Cyber criminals use these tools to deceive the potential
target into releasing their personal sensitive data and
restoring it for later access to the user’s machine, if the
data obtained contained the target ID and password.
 Furthermore, a Keylogger will reveal the contents of all
e-mails composed by the user and there are also other
approaches to capturing information about user activity.
• Some Keyloggers capture screens, rather than keystrokes.
• Other Keyloggers will secretly turn on video or audio
recorders, and transmit what they capture over your Internet
connection.
 The Case in Ethiopia
 One of the six reasons for the revision of the 1957 penal code
is the advent of computer crimes. To put the preamble
verbatim, it reads:

 “Another discernable gap in the penal code is its failure to address
crimes born of advances in technology and the complexities of
modern life. The penal code does not incorporate crimes such as
hijacking of air craft, computer crimes and money laundering.”
 See the 2004 Criminal Code under Articles 706- 711.
 Art.706- Access, Taking or Using Computer Services
without authorization
 Art.707- Causing Damage to Data
 Art. 708. Disrupting the Use of Computer Services by an
Authorized User
 Thus, hacking, spreading malware and denial of service
attacks (DoS) were recognized in the criminal code.
 The need for a new law
 The provisions of the Criminal code were inadequate. To be exact,
it has three major deficiencies.


 1. It criminalize only three types of cybercrimes, v.i.z hacking,
spreading malware, and DoS. However, a range of new crimes
emerged that were not contemplated at the time of the draft.
 2. The computer crime rules of the code do not provide tailored
procedural and evidentiary provisions necessary for the
investigation & prosecution of offences. The evidence rules are
scattered in multiple laws and even worse outdated to fix
peculiarity& novelty of online crimes.
 3. The provisions were not crafted taking the cross-border nature
of this form of crime and the need for international cooperation in
the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of cybercrimes.
Ethiopia also were required to make a new legal framework in the
regional and international effort to fight cybercrimes.
 The Nuts& Bolts of Computer Crime
Proclamation(No.958/2016)
 Compared to the criminal code, significant reforms were
made.

 First, it adds a new range of cyber crimes. It puts computer
crimes in to 4 categories v.i.z. 1) ―crimes against computer
system and data‖, 2) Computer –related forgery, fraud, and
theft, 3) illegal content data and 4) miscellaneous computer
offences.
 The First Section retains those crimes already regulated in
the 2004 Criminal Code. [See Arts.3-7of CCP].
 Besides, it includes ―interception of personal data‖ under
Art.4 as a new crimes.
 The elements are 1) intentional interception, 2) non-public
communication, and 3) without authorization or in excess of
it.
 Section II- Computer related forgery, fraud and identity theft are
made punishable under Articles 9, 10 &11 respectively.


Section III- Child pornography/Obscene against minors,
spamming, online defamation, intimidation, and crime against
public security are made bookable. [See Arts.12, 13, 13, 14-16]
 Section IV- this category includes miscellaneous crimes such as
breach of duty and hindrances of cybercrime investigation,
liability of juridical persons and liability of internet service
providers. [Arts.17-20].
 On PROCEDURAL& EVIDENTIARY matters the proclamation
filled the lacunas of the old code. Specifically, it made electronic
evidences admissible [Arts.33&35], preservation & production of
electronic data and search and seizure of computer data.
 See Arts. 30, 32, of the proclamation.
 The proclamation include a definitional provision that helps
the judges and others in the profession to fully comprehend


what a certain notion constitutes or referring to.
 Most of the provisions of the proclamation make crimes
bookable only when they are committed ―intentionally‖
saving few exceptions. The justification is the low level of ICT
literacy in Ethiopia.
 The Federal Attorney , and the Federal Police have a
mandate of investigation.
 The Federal Attorney General is empowered to seek
international cooperation such as extradition, exchange of
information, joint investigation, & other assistance as per
art.42.
 The way forward
• Individuals and organizations can protect themselves


from cyber crimes by taking the following steps:
 Ensuring that their security software is current and
updated regularly.
 Locking or logging off their devices when not in use.
 Using strong passwords and changing them
frequently.
 Being aware of phishing scams and not clicking on
suspicious links or downloading attachments from
unknown sources.
 Using a secure internet connection and avoiding
public Wi-Fi networks.
 Keeping their systems up-to-date with the
latest security patches.

 Backing up important data regularly.
 Using encryption and virtual private networks
(VPNs) to secure their internet network.
 Being cautious when sharing personal
information online.
 Educating themselves and their employees
about cyber security best practices.
 Seeking legal advice and assistance in case of a
cyber attack or data breach.
 Human Rights in Cyber
Space 1: Privacy and Data

Protection
 At the end of this lesson you will be able to:
 Understand data protection
 Describe issues surrounding digital surveillance with the
law.
 Illustrate the notion of surveillance capitalism and the law.
 Discuss the Ethiopian laws on the area.
 Human Rights & the Cyber
World
The cyber world is both a blessing and a
curse for human rights.
 The blessings are  the following:
 It creates a room for HR advocacy
 A platform for exposing violations. E.g.
George Floyd‘s killing by US police
 It facilitates cross-border (international)
co-operation among state and non-state
actors in the promotion of HR and
prevention of violations.
BLM Movement, Miami, Florida (15-26 million people participated)


Initially, cyber space has long been understood as an
unlimited space, where established laws are not

applicable, and states have only limited power.
It was hoped that it could provide for greater
connectivity, and the creation of a public space, that
overcomes the restrictions of the offline world:
geographical distance, legal restrictions and
government control.
However, its growing omnipresence, technological
sophistication, the dominance of powerful private
actors, and mounting political stakes, cyberspace
become one of the geopolitical arenas.
Apart from those crimes mentioned under the 2nd
chapter, other vital human rights notably the right

to privacy and protection of data have become a
zone of contention today.
Particularly, abuse of technological tools to
compromise or violate rights such as
compromised account, internet blocking, filtering,
censorship practices, information gathering,
excessive electronic surveillance, data collection
and profiling, or biometrics identification
without non-compliance with due process
guarantees are becoming serious concerns of
human rights issues.
Contested issues in the cyberspace are the

right to privacy, freedom of thought,
conscience and religion or belief, freedom of
opinion, freedom of expression and
information, freedom of peaceful assembly
and association, and the right to equality
before the law.
STATES are the MOST POWERFUL actors in
the cyberspace.
Corollary to this, they have an obligation to
PROTECT,PROMOTE & RESPECT
fundamental rights.
 The Right to Privacy Online
 The right to privacy is a basic human right
enshrined under Art.12 of UDHR and Art. 17
of ICCPR. 
These provisions safeguards a person from
arbitrary and unlawful interference with his or her
privacy, family, home or correspondence, and the
right to the protection of the law against such
interference.
The exercise of the right to privacy is important for
the realization of the right to freedom of expression
and to hold opinions without interference, and is one
of the foundations of a democratic society.
 It is adhered that “the same rights people have offline must
also be protected online, including the right to privacy.”

 The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution 68/167
declared that states shall (a) Respect and protect the right
to privacy, including in the context of digital
communication;
 (b) Take measures to put an end to violations of those rights and to
create the conditions to prevent such violations, including by
ensuring that relevant national legislation complies with their
obligations under international human rights law.
 (c) Review their procedure, practices and legislation
regarding the surveillance of communications, their
interception and collection of personal data, including mass
surveillance, interception and collection to uphold the right
to privacy.
 Art.17 of ICCPR reads as follows: “No one shall be subjected to
arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family,
home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her
honour and reputation”.

 It further states that “everyone has the right to the protection of the
law against such interference or attacks.”
Though the focus of our discussion is on the right to
privacy, there are other rights affected by mass
surveillance, the interception of digital
communications and the collection of personal data.
These include the rights to freedom of opinion and
expression, and to seek, receive and impart
information; to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association; and to family life – rights all linked
closely with the right to privacy and, increasingly,
exercised through digital media.
 Surveillance of electronic communications data can be
a necessary and effective measure for legitimate law

enforcement or intelligence purposes.
 Surveillance measures should NOT be ARBITRARY
& UNLAWFUL that interfere with an individual’s
privacy, family, home or correspondence.
 Meanwhile, questions such as
―What constitutes interference with privacy in the
context of digital communications; of the meaning of
“arbitrary and unlawful”; and of whose rights are
protected under international human rights law,
and where” need further scrutiny.
 Digital Surveillance
 Refers to the monitoring of behavior, activities, or information
for the purpose of information gathering, influencing,
managing, or directing.

 It can include observation from a distance by means of electronic
equipment, such as closed-circuit television (CCTV), or interception
of electronically transmitted information like Internet traffic.
 It can be used by citizens for protecting their neighborhoods and
by governments for intelligence gathering, including espionage,
prevention of crime, the protection of a process, person, group, or
object, or the investigation of crime.
 Criminal organizations also use surveillance to plan and execute
illegal activities.
Social media surveillance is a type of digital
surveillance that refers to the collection and
processing of personal data pulled from digital
communication platforms, often through
automated means.
 Interference with Privacy
 The Human Rights Committee in its general comment No.16
underlined that interference with one‘s privacy as stated
under Art.17 of ICCPR demands ―the integrity and

confidentiality of correspondence should be guaranteed de jure
and de facto.”
 “Correspondence should be delivered to the addressee without
interception and without being opened or otherwise read.”
 The European Court of Justice observed that communications
metadata „taken as a whole may allow very precise conclusions
to be drawn concerning the private lives of the persons whose
data has been retained.’
 Thus, the capture of communications data is potentially an
interference with privacy and, further, that the collection and
retention of communications data amounts to an interference
with privacy whether or not those data are subsequently
consulted or used.

Therefore, the very existence of mass
surveillance creates an interference with
privacy. 
 It is the duty of states to prove that the
interference is neither arbitrary nor
unlawful.
Question? What is “arbitrary and
unlawful”?
 What is Arbitrary and Unlawful?
Interference with individuals right to privacy is
permissible under int‟l human rights law if it is

neither arbitrary nor unlawful.
UN HRC in its general comment 16 noted that
the term “unlawful” implied that no interference
could take place “except in cases envisaged by
the law.
Interference authorized by states can only
takes place on the basis of law, which itself
must comply with the
provisions, aims and objectives of the
Covenant(ICCPR)” and should be reasonable in
the circumstances.
 Thus, interference permissible under the national
law may be “unlawful” if it conflicts with the
provisions of the ICCPR.

 The limitations, to be lawful therefore, should be
(1) Permissible under int’l human rights law
(2) Complying with the provisions, aims, and
objectives of the ICCPR.
(3) Reasonable under the circumstances.
 Thus, it related with the principles of “legality”, “necessity”
and “proportionality”
E.g. Communication surveillance programs can be justified by
national security like terrorism, and other individual criminal acts
 Sharing of data between law enforcement agencies,
intelligence bodies, and other state organs usually

risks in violating Art.17 of the Covenant, b/se what
is proportional & necessary for one legitimate aim
may not be the same for the other.
 Protection of the Law[ Art.17par.2 of
ICCPR]
 “Every one has the right to protection of the law against
unlawful or arbitrary interference with their privacy.”
 On the basis of publicly accessible law
(sufficiently precise& published law)
(b) contain provisions that ensure that collection
of, access to and use of communications data are

tailored to specific legitimate aims;
(c) are sufficiently precise, specifying in detail the
precise circumstances in which any such
interference may be permitted, the procedures for
authorizing, the categories of persons who may be
placed under surveillance, the limits on the
duration of surveillance, and procedures for the use
and storage of the data collected; and
(d) provide for effective safeguards against
abuse.
 Who is protected & Where?
Every one whether nationals or aliens of a state
should be safeguarded from this intrusion.

Art.26 of ICCPR reads ―all persons are equal
before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to the equal protection of the
law”
 Interference with privacy should comply with
the principles of legality, proportionality and
necessity regardless of the nationality or
location of individuals whose communications
are under surveillance.
 What constitutes personal data?
 The Freedom of the Mass Media and Access to Information Proclamation
No. 590/2008, define personal data as information about an identifiable
individual that relates, but is not limited to

history; 
medical, education, academic, employment, financial transaction, professional or criminal

 ethnic, national or social origin, age, pregnancy, marital status, color, sexual orientation,
physical or mental health, well-being, disability, religion, belief, conscience, culture,
language or birth,
 an identification number, symbol or other identifier assigned to the individual, address,
fingerprints or blood type;
 personal opinions, views or preferences, except as relate to another individual;
 views or opinions on grant proposals, awards, or prizes granted to another individual,
provided such views or opinions are not associated with the other individual’s name
 views or opinions of others about the individual, or
 an individual’s name, in combination with other personal data, or alone, if could
reasonably be linked to personal data.
 Privacy &Data Protection in Ethiopian Legal
System
 Ethiopia ratified the two fundamental human right
instruments(ICCPR & ICESCR) that safeguard Privacy in 1993.
 The constitution under Art.9 & 13 gives preeminence to int‘l

human right instruments in interpreting the 3rd chapter of the
constitution.
 Art.26 the right to privacy
(1) Everyone has the right to privacy. This right shall include the right
not to be subjected to searches of his home, person or property, or
the seizure of any property under his personal possession.
2. Everyone has the right to the inviolability of his notes and
correspondence including postal letters, and communications made
by means of telephone, telecommunications and electronic devices.
3. Public officials shall respect and protect these rights. No
restrictions may be placed on the enjoyment of such rights except in
compelling circumstances and in accordance with specific laws
whose purposes shall be the safeguarding of national security or
public peace, the prevention of crimes or the protection of health,
public morality or the rights and freedoms of others.
 Online data privacy
 The Computer Crime Proclamation No. 958/2016
criminalizes the unauthorized access to, and illegal

interception and damage of, computer data.
 The proc. prohibits the use of computer systems to
disseminate advertisements absent addressee consent
 The new Media Proclamation obliges online Media to
protect the data of users and obtain explicit consent from
users when circumstances requiring users’ data to be
made available to third parties.
More on data protection in Ethiopian Ls
 Data Protection Law in Ethiopia
 Do You think we have a comprehensive data protection law?
 The draft data protection proclamation was comprehensive but it


still remain a draft deprived of legal effect.
 Other laws like the FDRE Constitution, Criminal code, the civil
code, the Computer Crimes Proclamation, the new media law,
Telecom Fraud Offence Proclamation No. 761/2012; Registration of
Vital Events and National Identification Cards Proclamation No.
760/2012 (as amended); Federal Tax Administration Proclamation
No.983/2016; Authentication and Registration of Documents'
Proclamation No.922/2015; Electronic Signature Proclamation
No.1072/2018; Communications Service Proclamation No.1148/2019;
Electronic Signature Proclamation No.1072/2018; Electronic
Transaction Proclamation No.1205/2020; National Bank of Ethiopia
(NBE) Licensing and Authorization of Payment Instrument Issuers
Directive No. ONPS/01/2020; NBE Financial Consumer Protection
Directive No. FCP/01/202 have some provisions on the area.
 Data protection in Ethio cont‘d
 Art. 26(2) of the FDRE Constitution, … ―everyone has a right to
inviolability of his […] correspondence… including


communications made by means of telephone, telecommunications
and electronic devices.”
 Ethiopia ratified the ICCPR w/c regulates the matter.
 Ethiopia adopted (and hopefully will ratify)the African
Union Convention on Cyber security and personal data
protection which deals with personal data & electronic
privacy.
 The Civil Code provisions dealing with ―inviolability of
correspondence‖, ―the right to ones image‖ can be of relevant
for the digital data protection.
 See Arts. 31, 27-28 of the civil code.
 Art.11(1) of the Freedom of Mass Media and Access to
Information Proclamation, 590/2008 recognizes the right of


every citizen to have access to information held by public
bodies and provides an exception for restricting this freedom
provided public & private interests so require.
 To protect privacy of individuals public bodies may deny
access to public records that may contain personal
information. [See Arts.16-18]
 It allows the person to be notified & intervene in the process
to safeguard his security i.e. it recognizes the principle of
―data security‖ and ―individual participation‖.
 It provides a lengthy list of personal information under
Art.2(8) of the proclamation.
 The 2004 Criminal Code have also provisions on data protection
and privacy.
 It penalizes violations of the privacy of correspondence including

electronic communications. See Art.606 &706 ff)
 Art.606 Violation of Privacy of correspondence or consignments
 (1) ― whosoever without lawful authority :
(a) deliberately learns about the contents of or opens a business or a private
closed or open letter, envelope or correspondence, or access electronic,
telegram, telephone or telecommunication correspondence, commercial
or private closed letter or envelope, or a packet, a sealed parcel or any
consignment, w/c is not his; or
(b) having learned of certain facts by opening, even by mistake or
negligence, such a closed envelope or parcel not addressed to him,
divulges such facts or drives a gain therefrom, is punishable upon
complaint with fine not exceeding 1000 birr or simple imprisonment not
exceeding 3 months.
 The Draft Data Protection

Proclamation
Though not binding, the draft proclamation
contains a comprehensive issues about data

protection& electronic privacy.
 It addressed issues such as definition of key terms,
processing of personal data, jurisdictional rules, list
of data protection principles, rights of data subjects,
rules on notification procedures by data controllers,
and enforcement provisions.
 It envisages the establishment of independent data
protection authority that oversees the
implementation of data protection rules.
 The following are the major principles of data protection
recognized in the draft legislation.
 Principles of personal data
processing
 Data Processing indicates the collection, storage, and use of

personal information by individuals, governments, and
organizations
 1. P‟ple of lawfulness- states that any processing of
personal data should be lawful, fair, and transparent.
 In order to comply with this principle, organizations must
ensure that their data collection practices do not break the
law and that they are not hiding anything from data subject.
[See art.16 of DDPP)
 2. P‟ple of Fairness & Transparency(Art.16 of DDPP)-
Fairness means that personal data should only be handled
in ways that people would reasonably expect and not use it
in ways that have unjustified adverse effects on them.
 Organizations must evaluate any adverse effects on
individuals and must not process data in a way that might
be unexpected, discriminatory or misleading.
Transparency requires that individuals are aware


that their personal data is being collected, used,
consulted, or otherwise processed, and to what
extent it is being processed.
Organizations must be open and honest and
comply with the transparency obligations of the
right to be informed
They must not deceive or mislead people when
collecting their personal data
 3. The principle of purpose limitation(Art.22 of DDPP)
Requires that personal data should only be processed for the
original purpose for which it was collected, and not further


processed in a manner that is incompatible with those
purposes.
 Specifying the purposes for data processing from the outset
helps organizations to be accountable for their processing
and avoid "function creep‖.
 Organizations must evaluate the compatibility of any new
purpose with the original purpose or obtain specific consent
for the new purpose if it is not compatible with the original
purpose.
 You can only use the personal data for a new purpose
if either this is compatible with your original purpose,
you get consent, or you have a clear obligation or
function set out in law.
 4. P‟ple of Data Minimization/Art.23
 Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in
relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.
 Personal data should be limited to what is directly relevant and

necessary to accomplish a specified purpose.
 Organizations should collect only the personal data they really
need, and retain it only for as long as they need it
• 5. P‟ple of Accuracy/Art.24- Organizations should take all
reasonable steps to ensure the personal data you hold is
not incorrect or misleading as to any matter of fact.
• You may need to keep the personal data updated,
although this will depend on what you are using it for.
• If you discover that personal data is incorrect or
misleading, you must take reasonable steps to correct or
erase it as soon as possible.
• You must carefully consider any challenges to the
accuracy of personal data.
 6. The p‟ple of Storage limitation/Art.25
 Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall
not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or
those purposes.


• You must not keep personal data for longer than you
need it.
• You need to think about – and be able to justify –
how long you keep personal data. This will depend
on your purposes for holding the data.
• You can keep personal data for longer if you are only keeping it
for public interest archiving, scientific or historical research, or
statistical purposes.
• 7. P’ple of Integrity & Confidentiality/Art.26- Entities must
ensure that you have appropriate security measures in place to
protect the personal data you hold.
 The data controller shall take reasonable steps to ensure the
reliability of any employees of his who have access to the
personal data.
 8. The principle of Security /Art.27
 Appropriate technical and organizational measures shall be
taken against unauthorized or unlawful processing of
personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or
damage to personal data.

To ensure security in data transfer, organizations can take the
following measures:
A. Use encryption to protect personal data while it is being
transferred from one device to another, whether across the
internet or over wired or wireless connections
B. Implement data in transit protection through a combination of
encryption and denying attackers the ability to read or modify
data
C. Use Secure Shell (SSH) protocols and programs to transfer
data safely and encrypt data streams.
 By implementing these measures, organizations can ensure
that personal data is protected during the transfer process, in
compliance with the principle of security.
 Surveillance Capitalism & the Law
 Surveillance Capitalism is a term associated with the work
of a Harvard professor named Shoshana Zuboff in 2014.

 It indicates the monetization of data captured through monitoring
people’s movements and behaviors' online and in the physical
world.
 It describes the modern, mass monetization of individuals' raw
personal data to predict and modify their behavior.
 A "new economic order that claims human experience as free
raw material for hidden commercial practices of extraction,
prediction, and sales.―
 Big tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google and
Facebook use surveillance capitalism to collect users'
personal data.
What do you understand?


 Such data includes search histories, social media posts, physical
locations and product keywords captured by microphones in
smartphones and internet of things (IoT) devices.

 The Internet of Things (IoT) describes the network of physical
objects—―things‖—that are embedded with sensors, software, and
other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging
data with other devices and systems over the internet.
 The data is packaged into prediction products that are sold to
companies for use in targeted marketing and behavioral
marketing purposes.
 For instance, some insurance companies use behavioral
underwriting to automatically raise insurance rates depending on a
driver's behavior.
 Businesses in these markets include insurance, retail, finance and
an expanding economic sector of e-businesses. These companies
use the prediction products to target their goods and services at
likely customers and perform behavioral modification. Behavioral
modification attempts to influence an individual's behavior through
subtle suggestions.
Steps of Surveillance Capitalism


 In Zuboff's analysis, no piece of information technology
inherently breaches data privacy. Surveillance capitalism is

not an inevitable part of the use of digital technology but
rather a business philosophy.
 For instance, surveillance capitalists often only allow access
to their devices, services and software updates if users sign
agreements allowing the owners to collect and share the
users' data with unspecified third parties.
 "Although some of these data are applied to product service
improvement, the rest are declared as a
proprietary behavioral surplus," she said.
 This means any personal data a company collects from a
user's interaction with its service is the property of the
company, not the user.
 Key Features of Surveillance Capitalism
 1. Logic. The logic, or philosophy, underlying surveillance capitalism is
like industrial capitalism.

 Just as industrial capitalism transforms nature's raw materials into
commodities, surveillance capitalism uses human nature for new
commodity inventions.
 Users are no longer the primary customers but merely the "objects
from which raw materials are extracted," while the real customers are
advertisers and other companies who buy surveillance capitalists'
prediction products.
 This leads to the "rendering of our lives as behavioral data for the
sake of others' improved control over us"
2. Means of production. The means of production for
surveillance capitalists like Google are algorithms that


predict a user's behavior based on all known data
about them. These machine learning algorithms become
more accurate and lucrative predictors the more data they
have access to, leading to an ever-increasing scope of
surveillance.
Algorithm- a set of step-by-step instructions that
describe how to perform a task. (የአንድን ስላት ውጤትን
በአጭርና ሉደጋገም በሚቻሌ መንገድ ሇመፈታት የሚያስችሌ ዘዴ)
3.Products. Surveillance capitalism's prediction products
are based on collected data. According to Zuboff,
companies like Google use the fact that they manufacture
and sell prediction products and not the raw data itself
to claim they do not sell user data at all.
4. Marketplace. The early buyers in the behavioral futures
marketplace were advertisers. However, customers have


expanded to "any actor with an interest in purchasing
probabilistic information about our behavior and/or
influencing future behavior."
 This includes insurance businesses, political consulting firms
such as Cambridge Analytica, and any organization
interested in predicting the likely behaviors of individuals.
 Effect: Over time, this competition, combined with the
increased technological capabilities of data collection, has
led companies to pivot from simply predicting
individuals' behavior to trying to modify it.
 Illustration
 Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal
 In the 2010s, personal data belonging to millions of Facebook users was
collected without their consent by British consulting firm Cambridge


Analytica, predominantly to be used for political advertising.
 The data was collected through an app called "This Is Your Digital Life",
developed by data scientist Aleksandr Kogan and his company Global
Science Research in 2013.
 The app consisted of a series of questions to build psychological profiles
on users, and collected the personal data of the users’ Facebook friends
via Facebook's Open Graph platform. The app harvested the data of up
to 87 million (of w/c 70.6 million were Americans) Facebook profiles.
 Cambridge Analytica used the data to provide analytical assistance to the
2016 presidential campaigns of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.
 According to PolitiFact, in his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump paid
Cambridge Analytica in September, October, and November for data on
Americans and their political preferences.
 In July 2019 , face book was fined $5 billion by FTC and agreed to pay a
£500,000 fine to the UK Information Commissioner's Office for exposing
the data of its users to a "serious risk of harm".
 People accept surveillance capitalism because they often
don't know the extent of the data collection that various tech


providers are doing, and they depend on the digital
technologies they're using.
 However, according to Zuboff, these trends could have
serious consequences for the digital future:
 ending the right to privacy as a social norm;
 reducing the ability of individuals to control their digital lives;
and
 weakening human autonomy and possibly democracy.
 Power inequality, and lack of transparency.
 The Solution from the Law
 The business of data collection and behavior prediction is ―the new
oil‖.


 Essentially, that the law does not currently exist to prevent firms
like Google from extracting data and profiting from “behavior”
which represents a new commodity in the worldwide marketplace.
 In Europe they have developed the EU’s General Data Protection
Regulation- protects users’ personal data from corporations but
makes an exception for government action.
 Following this national and regional bodies also enacted a law on
the area.
 The African Union also crafted a Convention on Security and
Personal Data Protection.
 Following this data protection laws that keep privacy are becoming
a concern at national & int’l arena.
 IT IS STILL A HEATED ACADEMIC DISCOURSE BEING
FERMENTED BY SCHOLARS WAITING LEGAL REMEDY.
 Chapter 4: Human Rights in Cyber
space: Freedom of Expression Online

THE CURRENCY OF DEMOCRACY IS INFORMATION-
Thomas Jefferson

 The other right worthy of scrutiny in the cyber world

is freedom of expression.
 Freedom of expression is a human right enshrined under
international, regional and national conventions and
laws.
 This chapter will explore issues pertaining to digital
speech management, filtering and ranking and
regulation of problematic content such as hate
speech and pornography.
 Digital Rights & the Law
 On the one hand, Internet empowers freedom of expression by
providing individuals with new menses and platforms of
expression.

 On the other hand, the free flow of information has raised issues
of content regulation to protect vulnerable like minors, the users
from abuse and crimes.
 The Internet paved a new world of interaction whereby people
communicate with each other to do business or other social affairs.
 The video/voice calling service Skype started in 2003, Facebook in
2004, Twitter in 2006, Instagram in 2010, Google in 2011, TikTok in
2017.
 Billions of people now have access to the internet at their fingertips
wherever they go.
 All in all, 4.95 billion people around the world actively use
internet.
 Do you think all these people use Internet for legitimate
purpose?
People become connected in all parts of the
world using Internet.

Questions are answered within seconds on
Google. And the internet is about to
democratize the entire world.
The Arab Spring 2010, starting in Tunisia, was
termed a „Facebook revolution‟, the Sudan
uprising 2019 would not have been possible
without social media.
People come together and organize for a
common cause by digital means.
Online media have sprung up and multiplied,
bloggers started blogging, everyone is able to
have her or his say.

 HOWEVER, AUTHORITARIAN governments also discovered
the potential of the new technology and learnt to use it for
their purposes: to propagate their own version of “the truth”

unchecked by professional media, to influence public opinion
in their favour, to keep track of and clamp down on opposition
voices, or shut down access altogether.
General users also abuse the technology: there is a
rising flood of hate speech and cyber-mobbing, of
misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy
myths.
Of course, all of these are not new phenomena, but
they are infinitely easier to set in motion at the click
of a button or the touch on a screen in the faceless
anonymity of the net.
 Digital rights that closely interwoven with freedom of
expression and privacy, are those that allow people to


access, create and publish digital media, as well as access
and use computers, other electronic devices and
communications networks.
 Digital rights are an extension of human rights for the
Internet age.
 The Declaration of principles on Freedom of Expression
and Access to Information in Africa was adopted by the
African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (AU
declaration) in 2002 and updated in 2019 to include
digital rights.
 It states that the ―universal, equitable, affordable and
meaningful access to the internet is necessary for the
realization of freedom of expression, access to
information and the exercise of other human rights”.
 In 2012, the United Nations Human Rights Council
established an important basic principle: Human rights apply
equally online and offline, digital rights are human rights.

All people have the right to access, use, create and publish
information freely, to enjoy and exercise freedom of
expression, information and communication as long as
they do not violate the rights of others.
Similarly, it is the right of everyone to access, use, create,
share and publish information via digital media, blogs,
websites and the like; again: as long as the rights of others
are respected.
 The Challenge for law = how to realize digital rights equally
for all and how to protect them against interference by the
states as well as misuse.
 Freedom of Expression
Is a fundamental human right that allows individuals to
express their opinions and ideas freely without

interference or retaliation from the government.
 The freedom for all to express themselves. It is the right
to speak, to be heard, and to participate in political,
artistic, and social life.
Importance: Freedom of expression is a foundational
right that is essential for the enjoyment and protection
of all human rights. It enables dialogue, builds
understanding, and increases public knowledge.
When individuals can freely exchange ideas and
information, their knowledge improves, which
benefits their communities and societies.
 Online Freedom of Expression
 Online expression: Freedom of expression also applies to
online expression, including the freedom to express oneself


online and to access information and the opinions and
expressions of others.
Public authorities have a duty to respect and protect this
freedom, and any restrictions to this freedom must not be
arbitrary.
 Freedom of expression is closely connected to freedom of
thought and is a precondition for individuals self-expression
and self-fulfillment.
 It enables an open debate about political, social
and moral values, and encourages artistic and scholarly
endeavour free of inhibitions.
 It is enshrined under Art.19 of UDHR,
 What freedoms are protected?
 I. Freedom to hold Opinion: the state must not try to
indoctrinate its citizens nor make distinctions between those
holding specific opinions and others.

form opposition. 
 The freedom gives citizens the right to criticize the government and

 II. Freedom to impart information and ideas: which give citizens

the right to distribute information and ideas through all possible
lawful sources .
 III. Freedom to receive information: which includes the right to
gather information and to try to get information through all possible
lawful sources.
 IV. Freedom of the Press: closely linked to the public‘s right to
know.
V. Freedom of Radio and Broadcasting: subject to
certain licensing procedures, citizens should have
the freedom to establish and express views on TV
and radio broadcasting.
 Admissible Restrictions
 Freedom of expression(both in the online and offline world) are
not absolute: have restrictions for various rationales.
 Art.10(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights

declared that there are three main categories where restricting
freedom of expression could be legitimate.
 1.Protection of public interest (national security, territorial
integrity, public safety, prevention of disorder or crime,
protection of health or morals).
 2.Protection of other individual rights (protection of the
reputation or rights of others, prevention of the disclosure of
information received in confidence).
 3.Necessity of maintaining the authority and impartiality of the
judiciary.
 In other words, the justifications of restriction we discussed on
the 3rd chapter – on privacy- ―necessity, proportionality and
legality‖ requirements shall be satisfied.
 Admissibility of Restrictions cont‘d
 Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection
of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, argued in his


influential 2011 report that, in analogy to offline
content, any restriction of online content to be imposed as an
exceptional measure must pass a three-part, cumulative test:
 1.- it must be provided by law, to meet the principles of
predictability and transparency,
2. – it must pursue one of the purposes envisaged in Article 19
of the ICCPR, i.e. to protect the rights or reputation of others,
or to protect national security or public order, health or morals,
and
3. – it must be necessary and also the least restrictive means to
achieve the respective objective (principle of proportionality)
 Digital Speech Management: Filtering and
Ranking
 We are now in an age of Information where the
technology is challenging established legal institutions,
social practices , and human rights of an individual

including freedom of speech and expression.
 Freedom of speech and expression refers to the right to
express one's ideas and opinions freely through
speech and other forms of media communication
but not at the cost of causing damage to reputation
of others and not being against the law by means
of false , misleading or mischievous statements.
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, said "Freedom of
Speech has no meaning if there is no freedom
after speech‖.
 Filtering
Filtering refers to the use of technology to block or
limit access to certain types of content on the internet.

This can include blocking websites or specific web
pages, filtering out certain types of content such as
pornography or hate speech, or limiting access to
certain types of websites such as social media or gaming
sites.
Filtering can be done by internet service providers,
governments, or private companies, and can be used for
a variety of reasons such as protecting children from
harmful content or preventing the spread of hate
speech.
However, filtering can also be used to limit access to
constitutionally protected speech and can compromise

freedom of expression and human rights.
Filters are often unreliable because computer code and
algorithms are still unable to accurately filter content,
and blocking/filtering decisions usually lack
transparency and are rarely ordered by a court.
There is debate over whether algorithmic curation of
online forums should be considered government speech
or private speech, and some argue that emphasizing
user speech rights in algorithmically curated online
forums is necessary to protect against filter bubbles and
ensure access to diverse viewpoints.
 Ranking
Ranking refers to the process of ordering search
results by relevance to a particular query.

When someone performs a search, search engines
scour their index for highly relevant content and then
order that content in the hopes of solving the
searcher's query.
Ranking is a complex process that involves
algorithms that look at a variety of signals to
determine whether a page is relevant and of high
enough quality to show when someone types a
query into the search bar.
Factors that can influence ranking
include keyword density, the quality and

quantity of website traffic, and the number and
quality of links to a page.
Google's PageRank algorithm is one example
of a ranking algorithm used by search engines
to determine the relevance and importance of
web pages.
The goal of ranking is to provide the pieces of
content that will best answer a searcher's
query, which means that results are ordered
by most relevant to least relevant
 Filtering & Ranking Vis-à-vis
Freedom of Expression
Filtering and ranking are types of active interference

with the exercise of users' freedom of speech and
practices.
Content filtering, deleting, blocking, suspending, and
ranking can compromise freedom of speech &
expression rights and limit access to constitutionally
protected speech.
Research has shown that filters often block adults
and minors from accessing a wide range of
constitutionally protected speech, and are
unreliable because computer code and
algorithms are still unable to accurately filter
content.
While the government speech doctrine states that the
government is able to determine the contents of its
speech without being restricted by the Freedom of

Speech clauses, there is debate over whether
algorithmic curation of online forums should be
considered government speech or private speech.
Some argue that emphasizing user speech rights in
algorithmically curated online forums is necessary to
protect against filter bubbles and ensure access to
diverse viewpoints.
 Others argue that internet filtering is necessary to
protect against harmful content, but that it should be
implemented in a transparent and accountable
manner.
Regulating Problematic Content: Hate Speech
& Pornography
 The key precondition for online freedom of expression is
access to Internet.

 To enjoy online freedom of expression two things needs to be
satisfied.
I. Access to the Internet/Connectivity: Internet is an enabler of
human rights. Internet (the physical or infrastructure
dimension) should be available to exercise freedom of
expression online.
II. Access to Online Content: the right to obtain unfiltered
access to online content.
 Thus, Internet as a facilitator of human rights needs first
connectivity and unfiltered access to content.
 Denial of either connectivity or content raises the issue of
freedom of expression online.
 The Need for Regulating Online Content
Regulating online content can be justified by the
same justifications for limiting freedom of
expression.

 The need to ensure public interest, the protection of
the rights & freedoms of other fellow human beings
and the desire to safeguard the works of the
judiciary can justify regulation.
 Besides, as the content of the Internet can be
accessed freely minors can also access a content not
beneficial for their age.
 In regulating the content the principles of being
provided by law, necessary in a democratic society
for the pursuit of a legitimate goal and
proportionate (i.e. appropriate and avoiding
unjustified discrimination)
What Sorts of Speech is Unprotected Online?
 Inherently not all speech need to be protected online.


 To be exact, three categories of expression needs to be
regulated to safeguard the public and private interests
alike including the right to freedom of expression itself.
 A. Expressions that constitutes an offence under
international law and can be prosecuted criminally;
 B. Expression that is not criminally punishable but
may justify a restriction and a civil suit; and
C. Expression that does not give rise to criminal
or civil sanctions, but still raises concerns in
terms of tolerance, civility and respect for others.
 States are obliged to prohibit content falling under category (a).
The category includes expression that is prohibited by

international law:
 images of sexual exploitation of children (to protect the rights
of children);
 advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred amounting to
incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence (to protect the
rights of others, such as the right to life) E.g. Bigotry,
extremism.
 direct and public incitement to commit genocide (to protect
the rights of affected communities); and
 incitement to terrorism.
 States should also have a national law to ward off the rest
two categories of expressions in their legal system.
 If states try to control content that is NOT illegal, but be
it potentially harmful, offensive or objectionable or just

undesirable, must not be the target of state censorship.
 In the case of Handyside V. the United Kingdom(7
December 1976) App.No.5493/72, the ECHR decided
that "Freedom of expression... is applicable not only to
'information' or 'ideas' that are favorably received or regarded as
inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that
offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population"
 Thus, only expressions that are precisely shocking,
offending and disturbing ideas that need protection.
 What about online hate speech? Should it be
tolerated?
 Hate Speech
 A deliberate dissemination of hate speech that
promotes hatred, discrimination or attack against a

person or an discernable group of identity, based
on ethnicity, religion, race, gender or disability.
 See Art.2(2) of the Hate Speech and Disinformation
prevention and Suppression Proclamation,
No.1185/2020.
According to Weber, hate speech is any form of
expression that is propagated to incite, promote or
justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, or
other forms of hatred rooted in intolerance, including
intolerance expressed by nationalism and aggressive
ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility towards
minorities and migrants.
Racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, aggressive
nationalism and discrimination against

minorities and immigrants are present online as
281

well.
 In the past offline world, it was usually
politicians and the media who play the central role
in fostering offline hate, but the Internet has
enabled anyone to become the author of visible
hate speech, even anonymously.

 As per Art.2 par.1 of the Additional Protocol to the
Convention of Cybercrime, Racist or xenophobic content is
“any written material, any image or any other representation of ideas

or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination
or violence, against any individual or group of individuals, based on
race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if
used as a pretext for any of these factors”
 It is subject to criminal(serious) punishment in most
jurisdictions.
 Ethiopia also has a law that aims to combat hate speech
proclamation though some commentators feared that it
would create a room for suppression of rights and freedoms
of citizens who oppose the political elites.
 See the UN‘s concern on Bloomberg and Human Rights
Watch‘s concern

 Protection of Children in light of
Freedom of Expression Online
 Freedom of expression may at times impart ideas
unsuitable to some age groups like children.

 It may have to be subjected to more stringent limits when
the speech could come in contact with children.
 As children are vulnerable because of their age, the law
needs to protect them.
 States shall thus come up with laws that strike a balance
between freedom of expression and protection of children
online. The following can be measures:
 Criminalizing obscene acts in the criminal legislation
 Owners of Web sites should have an age checks on the free
preview page.
 Use precautionary measures like ex post moderation of
content as inappropriate for young users.

Chapter 5: Intellectual Property
Rights in the Digital Age

 The main themes of this chapter are the
following:
 IPRs and the digital age in a nut shell
 Copyrights in the digital environment
 Trademarks and domain names in the
cyberspace
 IPRs and the Digital Age
Question: What are IPRs? What distinguishes them from
the rest of properties you know?

 IPRs are property rights that are the creation of intellect.
 IP indicates a specific legal right in which authors, inventors
and other IP holders may hold and exercise and not the
actual work itself.
 The main tenets of PPRs law is, on one hand, to ensure the
existence of sufficient incentives to lead to innovation and
the creation of new works and products. On the other hand,
to safeguard the publics right to know and have access to
knowledge, products and inventions for public use.
 Thus, IPRs endeavour to balance those two strikingly
contrasting interests: the property interests of creators and
the interest of the public at large.
The advent of Internet has driven many changes
in the IP.

 As a data and resource access tool, it expanded
the reach of every user localized, regional
resources to true global information access.
To day a significant amount of business-to-
Consumer e-commerce involves intangible
products that can be delivered over the networks
of the Consumer’s computer.
Arguably, it is assumed that, most transactions in
the internet raised issues of concern on infringing
IPRs, especially copy right and patent.
IP includes various tools of protection,
the following being the notable ones.
 Patent,

Trademark, Geographical
Indications, Layout designs of Integrated
Circuits, Trade Secrets, Copyrights, and
Industrial designs.
Of these categories, Copy rights and
Trademarks are serious concerns in the
realms of the cyber world.
 Copyrights in the Digital Environment
 Copyright is a right given by law to the creators of
literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and

producers of cinematographic films and sound
recordings to do or authorize the doing of certain
acts with regard to their creations.
 It is a kind of protection against an authorized use
or misuse of the work, but for a limited time.
 The rights include the rights of authorship,
reproduction, distribution, communication to the
public, broadcasting, adaptation and translation.
 Copyright is a bundle of rights broadly
categorized into two broad categories: economic
rights and moral rights.
 Economic rights grant creators monopoly right to
exploit commercially for a definite period and

requires the work to disclosed to the public.
 It enables the public use of the inventors work by
upon payment or remuneration.
 The economic rights include the f/f.
 1. Right of reproduction
 2. Right to issue copies of a work
 3. Right of public performance
 4. Right of Communication to the public
 5. Adaptation/variation/revision right
 6. Translation right
 Right of reproduction is the most fundamental of all rights.
 It empowers the copyright owner an exclusive right to


authorize the making of one or more copies of a work or a
substantial part of the work in any material form including
sound and visual recording.
 Storing of a work in any medium by electronic means is
also reproduction.
 Moral Rights- on the other hand are rights that assert the
authorship on a work and uphold the rights of integrity.
 It gives the author a special right to claim ownership of a
work and to restrain or claim damages in respect of any
distortion, mutilation, modification or other act in relation
to the work done b4 the expiration of the term of copyright.
 Moral rights related to the honor and reputation of the
author and extend even after he has transferred his
economic rights to prevent distortion & misuse.
 Question: Have you heard about
derision and parody?

The act of comedians and entertainers?
Those acts in the Tik Talk?
Social media applications Vs. Moral
rights?
Do you think they need legal
intervention?
Acts of copying or duplication , adaptation,
translation, public performance, communication

to the public or broadcast done without the
copyright owner, or even where the work has
been licensed or adapted, any violation of the
conditions of the license agreement
constitutes copyright infringement.
It leads to provisional measure or civil and
criminal liability upon the intruder.
The law however puts a limitation(exception)
to copyright to achieve the public interest.
This is usually achieved in two menses:
firstly, limiting the duration in which

copyright work enjoys protection and
secondly, allowing certain users without
specific authorization by the owner of the
right, commonly known as FAIR USE
provisions in the copyright parlance.
E.g. the Berne Convention provides life time
of the author +50 yrs though national gov‘ts
can elongate this period.
 Trade Marks and Domain Names
Trade Mark is a distinctive sign of some kind
w/c is issued by a business to uniquely

identify itself and its products and services to
consumers , and to distinguish the business
and its products or services from those of
other businesses.
Commonly it comprises a name, word,
phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a
combination of two or more of those two
elements.
Purpose_ to exclusively identify the
commercial source or origin of products
or services and  thereby facilitating
identification of products w/c meet the
expectation of consumers as to quality
and other characteristics.
 Safeguard the public policy of
consumer protection and the suppliers
incentives of maintaining reputation.
 Establishment of the Right: Trademark right is
established in two ways: through actual use in the
market place or through registration of the mark with

the concerned office of a specific jurisdiction.
 Trade mark confers the right holder rights such as:
exclusive use of the mark, or prevention of
unauthorized use of the mark.
 In some jurisdictions, especially the Common Law Ls, though
a trademark has not been registered, countries often give
protection for the business reputation w/c attaches to
unregistered trademarks through a tort of passing off.
 It gives remedy where a business has been trading
under an unregistered trademark for many years, and
rival business starts using the same or similar mark.
 The e/ts to this claim are reputation, misrepresentation,
& damage to good will.
 Domain Names[DNS]
 It is an easy to remember name associated with a
physical IP address on the internet.
 It's the unique name that appears after the @ sign in email

addresses, and after www. in web addresses.
 refers to your website address.
 This is what users type in a browser's search bar to directly access your
website.
 A domain name is unique and cannot be shared between different sites. For
example: ovhcloud.com.
 The following are the common types of domain names.
• 1. .com: Commercial businesses (the most common TLD)
• 2. .org: organizations, typically nonprofits.
• 3. .gov: Government agencies.
• 4. .edu: Educational institutions.
• 5. .net: Network technology organizations.
• 6.. mil: Military organizations.
• 7. . int : Intergovernmental organizations.
 DN is what goes in between the scheme expression (usually either
https:// or https://) and the first slash in a URL.


 You can type a domain name into an internet browser address bar to
find a particular website's main page.
 A domain name generally has a three-part structure, and each part
of the domain is separated by a dot:
1. Subdomain or third-level domain, such as www
2. Second-Level Domain (SLD), which is the name of the website
3. Top-Level Domain (TLD), such as com
E.g. using the URL https://www.indeed.com/, we can determine the
complete domain name is “www.indeed.com.” The subdomain is
“www”; the SLD, or name of the website, is “indeed”; and the TLD is
“com.”
Nowadays, you often don’t need to include the “www” prefix when
typing a domain name.
 IPRs and the Internet
 Internet affected both the substance and the form Inventions of
different kinds/IPRs.
 Especially, a great deal of migration into the internet occur for

every IPR and specifically to copyright and trademark.
Copyright and the Cyber World
 In the field of copyright a vast number of works of
literature, film and art, and notably computer programs
have already shifted to the digital env‘t.
 Textual works such as books and newspapers are
actually suited to digitization & there is a growing
demand for e-books by e-publishing industry.
 A number of journalists and aspiring writers engaged in
online publishing to post blogs, and web logs of
journals without the intermediation of publishers and
distributors.
In the field of fine art, crafting and artifacts,
numerous museums and art galleries have

digitalized their collections and made
available for viewing on the Internet.
Online trading (.com companies) utilize vast
data base of books, video and music titles
and user friendly purchasing systems to
attract consumers away from the shopping
mall and then send these IP products using
postal mail.
 Trademarks
 TM system facilitates the identification of goods
and services and allows consumers to distinguish

those produced by a certain enterprise.
 In the Internet consumers increasingly rely on
strong brand awareness and performance for the
confidence to engage in e-commerce.
 Often times they are susceptible to infringement,
dilution and anticompetitive practices.
 In the same vein, DOMAIN NAMES are also user
friendly addresses that correspond to the unique
Internet Protocol numbers that connect our
computers to the Internet and enable the network
system to direct data requests to the correct address.
 Domain names because are easy to
remember and unique addresses, they
now serve as a  personal or business
identifiers.
Businesses advertise a domain name to
signal a Web presence.
Thus, they serve as identifiers as
trademarks do.
 Challenges of IPRs in the Digital
Environment
 Despite our mistaken assumptions that most of the

materials or information on the Web is a public
domain, freely available to print and copy, in fact
most are protected as intellectual properties.
 What aggravated the problem is most .com companies to
secure their digital presence and thereby acquire much
customers initially make their products available freely or at
least a free trial that increases the publics perception of free
products in the Internet.
 Right owners such as film and music creators, software
developers, authors and publishers make their products
online but others can also easily do the same infringing the
creators right.
 Illustration
 Z library- the world‘s largest e-book library was charged
with a copyright infringement of authors books or massive


book piracy. Following this it was blocked from access in
2022.
 Later the US law enforcement authorities arrest two
Russian nationals Anton Napolsky and Valeria
Ermakova with criminal copyright infringement,
wire fraud, and money laundering for operating Z-
Library.
 It currently displays a sort of disclaimer that reads “Dear all,
most of the website is community built, users are uploading
hundred of books everyday, which makes really hard for us to
identify copyrighted material, please contact us if you want any
material removed.”
 The same problem is prevalent in music and film
files because millions of people upload and share

through Peeer-to-Peer networks.
 Even worse there are new ways of applications and
computer professionals' who create new techniques
of getting materials that would otherwise are
available in payment.
 E.g. uttorent downloads movies, youtubers tell us
new methods of hacking protected materials.
 Anyhow: How does one protect digital content,
when technology by its nature, encourages copying
and sharing unanimously?
The First Come First Served Principle
in the DN registration has created

misuse of TMs in the Internet.
 To resolve trademark owners expend
vast resources, engaging automated
“web crawling”, software and cyber
surveillance firms to monitor their
Web pages and their Intellectual
property rights.
 Another problem in the cyber world is that businesses
adopt both ethical and unethical practices to get a good
rating in search engines.

 E.g. Spamdexing that involves the abuse of some one
else‘s trademark is a challenge in the cyber world.
 It involves hijack healthy and reputable websites and
inject links and keywords to lure users to different
malicious websites.
 This tactic can trick a user into believing they’ve landed
on their intended web page, but they’ve been fooled in
reality.
 For instance, an e-Commerce provider can create a site
then stuff it with keywords about a famous singer to rank
his website high when fans of the singer do a query with
related keywords.
 E.g. have you seen YouTube videos about Seifu on
ebs while in fact their substance is different.
 Digital Piracy
 Digital piracy has had a significant impact on intellectual
property rights. With the ease of copying and distributing


digital content, piracy has become a significant concern for
creators and owners of intellectual property.
 Piracy negatively affects the creative industries, including
film, TV, publishing, music, and gaming, and has an
economic impact, as it affects government revenue
streams and puts consumers at risk of financial loss.
 Piracy can discourage creative types from creating new
works, which would negatively impact innovation and
advancement.
 Digital piracy also has implications for cyber security, as
hackers can use pirated content to spread malware, Trojans,
and viruses.
 COPYING??
 SHARING via various platforms like Telegram
 The way out?
 Technological tools such as encryption and
watermarking together with digital management

initiatives provide solutions.
 Encryption is the process of encoding data from plaintext to cipher
text using an encryption algorithm and an encryption key.
 This process results in cipher text, which can only be viewed by
authorized parties with the right cryptographic key.
 Encryption is a vital component of digital transformation and a key
data privacy protection strategy that keeps sensitive information
out of the hands of unauthorized users.
 It is the simplest and most important way to ensure a computer
system's information can't be stolen and read by someone who
wants to use it for malicious purposes.
 THE ALGORITHM CIPHER IS NAMED AFTER JULIUS CAESAR
WHO WAS KNOWN IN SENDING ENCRYPTED LETTERS TO
HIS ALLIES.
Watermarking is a technique used to protect
data by embedding a digital watermark into an
image or video. 
The watermark can be encrypted to increase
safety, and the main goal in encrypting the
watermark before embedding is to increase
safety.
 It makes the video hardly possible to steal
and until final payment producers of movies
send watermarked version of the video to
avoid defaults in payment.
 Strong laws and enforcement
mechanisms to deter potential
infrigerators.
 Creating IPRs awareness/advocacy
and the sweats and brows of authors
and creators to the general public.
 What other solutions could you
contemplate?
 Chapter 6: E-Commerce
and the Law

The main issues of discussion in this chapter
are:
 E-commerce contracts and the law
 Electronic signatures and the law
 Consumer protection online
 Notions of E-commerce
 The concept of e-commerce was widely spread in
1996.

 WTO defines e-commerce as ―the production,
distribution and marketing and/or sale of goods
and services by electronic means.
 The widely accepted definition is given by OECD. It
defines e-commerce as ―the sale or purchase of
goods & services conducted over computer
networks by methods specifically designed for the
purpose of receiving or placing orders‖.
 E-commerce is therefore a business behaviour of
trading on the information network platform.
It has the distinct characteristics of virtuality,
massive, real-time and memorability.

It is a new trade model with the organic
integration of virtual society and real society.
In short, e-commerce can be regarded as
commercial trade activities carried out by
means of electronic technology
 Basic Concepts in E-commerce
 Like commerce in the physical world, e-commerce
contains various notions that called for further scrutiny.
 1. Virtual Store _

“electronic shopping malls”.
also called ―Online stores” and

 To sell things in reality, at least one store and ―booth‖ are

required. Similarly, selling on the Internet also demands a
sales scene.
 Virtual stores can be regarded as a business market
established on the Internet and a virtual space created for
online transactions.
 Consumers can view the virtual store and browse the goods
through the website.
 Businesses can also sell products through the virtual store on
the Internet, saving the cost of the physical store.
 In short, a website established by any company can be
regarded as the prototype of a virtual store.
 Virtual goods can be divided into digital goods such as
audio, video, and virtual physical goods.


 Virtual Stores can be in more detail divided in to either;
company advertisement type, after-sales service type,
direct sales store type, and external website type.
 The company advertising website only provides company
introduction and event information;
 The after-sales service website provides aftersales service and
product consultation;
 The direct sales store website is the most representative one, which
connects the company with consumers and sells goods more
directly;
 The external website is used for the cooperation, communication
and coordination between the company and the related
cooperative manufacturers.
 2. Shopping Cart
 The virtual shopping cart in e-commerce is called a
―shopping cart‖ because it plays the same role as the

shopping cart people use in the supermarket in
reality.
 The difference is that one is virtual and the other is
real.
 The role of traditional shopping carts is to facilitate
consumers in shopping and storing goods before the
checkout counter, thus freeing customers‘ hands.
 The role of the shopping cart in e-commerce is
similar, that is, to facilitate consumers to jump
between different pages of the shopping site and to
save the goods that have been purchased.
Then, customers can pay for their goods in a
unified way, reducing repetitive operations.

For merchants, shopping carts can also play a
role in allowing consumers to buy more
things, as shown in the picture for the
shopping cart with a variety of goods
temporarily stored.
 3. Virtual Goods
 Virtual goods can be divided into many types.
 In terms of whether goods physically exist, they can be
divided into two main categories: virtualization of

tangible goods and virtualization of intangible goods.
 First, virtualization refers to a form of abstract
representation of real goods and digital goods, that is, a
form of description of any goods that can be traded in e-
commerce in the virtual world of the Internet.
 The purpose is to describe the objective physical goods
or intangible digital products in the real world so that
consumers can browse, compare, evaluate, and purchase
the goods, thus breaking through the limitation of time
and space to understand the goods before the transaction
without touching them and making the transaction more
convenient.
 Second, tangible goods refer to goods that have
physical forms in the physical sense and can be
transported through logistics, while the
virtualization of tangible goods is an abstract
description of physical goods, such as photos, text
descriptions, video displays and other ways to
present them on the Internet.
 Such a description of goods in the virtual
environment of the Internet is the virtualized
physical goods.
 Both tangible and intangible goods can be
virtualized to enter the Internet and become virtual
goods to be purchased by consumers.
 4. Virtual Logistics
 Virtual logistics refers to networked logistics
services based on the Internet and realized by means

of information technology and intelligence.
 Virtual logistics mainly provides corresponding
logistics services for e-commerce activities.
 As mentioned before, virtual goods are divided into
two categories, i.e., virtualized tangible goods and
virtualized intangible goods, and virtual logistics is
needed to manage the distribution of both types of
goods.
 For intangible commodities that can be transmitted through the network,
virtual logistics carries out high-speed information transmission through
the Internet to distribute commodities.
 Virtual Logistics Vs. Traditional
Logistics
Virtual Logistics Traditional logistics

information processing, real-time
 Information
Information digitization, electronic is scattered,
diverse and complex.
information transmission Messaging lags.
 Highly automated, unmanned,  Low degree of automation.
machine instead of manpower and Logistics identification, pick,
labor productivity greatly
improved. access and so on mostly rely
 Logistics is networked. Logistics on manpower.
between systems and  Focusing on point-to-point or
organizations use network for line-to-line services. The
communication, having close organization is scattered.
connections.
 Intelligent. Providing decision  Only simple transfers are
support in logistics distribution provided.
management process.  Passive service, no unified
 Customer-centered: actively service standard, low
adapting to consumer demand; customer satisfaction.
more flexible.
Overall, virtual logistics has the characteristics of
space–time effect, rapid calculation of big data,
accurate description  of product dynamic
characteristics, real-time rapid response and
memorized location labeling characteristics.
It can be said that virtual logistics is the basis of e-
commerce, and e-commerce is an important driving
force to promote the emergence and development of
virtual logistics.
 Unique Features of E-commerce
A. Ubiquity- Internet/web technology is available
every where: at work, at home, and elsewhere via

mobile devices, anytime.
B. Global Reach- there is one set of standard that is
Internet standard.
C. Interactivity- the technology works through
interaction with users. Makes the consumer a co-
participant in the process of delivering goods to
the market.
D. Information Density- the technology reduces
information costs & raises quality. Information
processing, storage, and communication costs drop
dramatically, while currency, accuracy and
timeliness improve greatly. Information becomes
plentiful, cheap and accurate.
 E. Personization/Customization- the technology
allows personized messages to be delivered to

individuals as well as groups.
 Personization of marketing messages and
customization of products and services are based on
individual characteristics.
 N.B. E-Commerce is interdisciplinary in nature. It
has aspects from marketing, computer science,
computer behaviour and psychology, finance,
economics, Information management system,
management, business law and ethics.
 Our concern is only on the legal aspects.
 Models/Categories of E-Commerce
 The following are the common e-commerce models.
I. Business to Business e-commerce(B2B)

 II. Business to consumers e-commerce (B2C)
III. Consumers to consumers e-commerce (C2C}
IV. Business to employees e-commerce (B2E)
and
V. Consumer to business e-commerce (C2B)
 Multiple e-commerce entities use e-commerce to
conduct business activities.
 There are d/t types of entities v.i.z. commercial
organizations, consumer and government agencies.
 The following are the commonly known ones.
 Business to Business e-commerce(B2B)
 A model in which enterprises are the main body
and conduct e-commerce activities between enterprises.
 In this model, enterprises use intranets and external networks to
establish communication
 between upstream
and downstream manufacturers in the industry to simplify inter-
enterprise communication, speed up transaction processes, reduce costs
and achieve supply chain integration.
 A model in which enterprises are the main body
and conduct e-commerce activities between enterprises.
 Enterprises use intranets and external networks to
establish communication between upstream and
downstream manufacturers in the industry to simplify
inter-enterprise communication, speed up transaction
processes, reduce costs and achieve supply chain
integration.
 The operation & implementation model of B2B has four stages.
 1.Realize the management automation of the supply chain and


distributors between enterprises;
 2. Conduct Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) , that is, the
content of the electronic form maps to the written form of
the commercial transaction in a one-to-one manner;
 3. Carryout electronic fund transfer, that is, complete the
automatic transfer of funds between the bank and the
enterprise;
 4. Handle shipping requirements and automatically complete
logistics and distribution.
 The B2B model can be of four types according to the
relationship between related enterprises: Vertical B2B;
horizontal B2B; self-built B2B;and affiliated industry B2B.
  Vertical B2B is the supply relationship formed
between manufacturers, retailers and suppliers.
 In the market, it can also be seen as the formation

of sales relationships between manufacturers and
distributors; horizontal B2B focuses on similar
transaction processes.
BUSINESS TO CUSTOMER(B2C)
 Takes enterprises and customers as the main
body.
 A model for conducting e-commerce activities
b/n enterprises and consumers through the
Internet.
It establishes a direct connection
between enterprises or commercial
institutions and consumers.
 B2C cont‘d
 It can reduce the cost for merchants to find consumers
and sell products, and it is also convenient and fast for consumers.
 The typical operation process of the B2C model

can also be divided into the following three
stages:
1.Enterprises or commercial institutions release
goods, services or other publicity information
through the Internet;
2.Consumers find suitable products or services
through advertisements or active searches, then
purchase and place orders, and complete payment
through online payment;
3.After the merchant confirms the order and payment
information, the goods are delivered through
logistics.
 B2B Models
B2B has two models according to the buying &
selling relationship b/n enterprises and customers.

1. a model where companies are the sellers and
consumers are the buyers.
 E.g. Amazon’s online book store (http://www.ama
zon.com) and Taobao (http://www.taobao.com).
 It provide companies with a platform to build a
virtual store and allow them to directly connect
with individual buyers through their virtual store,
ultimately reaching a business-to-person
transaction relationship.
 2.the second B2C model, the enterprise belongs to
the buyer, and the individual belongs to the seller.

Its typical application is various recruitment websites,
which provide enterprises with a platform to
purchase labor from individuals, and individuals can
also choose corresponding jobs.
In fact, their operation process is not very different
from the abovementioned typical operation process,
except that the content or form of the commodity has
changed.
 Customer to Customer/C2C
 A model in which consumers are the main
body.

 It conducts e-commerce activities among
consumers. Since both buyers and sellers of
goods are consumers, the C2C model is
similar to a flea market in the real world.
 An ecommerce platform is a platform that
provides consumers with online trading
venues and is not limited by time and space,
saving many market communication costs.
 c2c model has four operation stages.
 1. The seller publishes the product on the e-
commerce platform;

2. Buyers search and browse products through e-
commerce platforms to find suitable products;
3. The buyer and the seller communicate and reach
an agreement, complete transaction records through
the e-commerce platform, and conduct fund
management and transfer;
4. The distribution of products is carried out through
the logistics mechanism.
 In this process, the e-commerce platform plays a pivotal
role.
 First, it is difficult for individual consumers to directly

and accurately find suitable buyers and sellers through
the Internet, so e-commerce platforms can aggregate
information and connect buyers and sellers faster.

 Second, due to the characteristics of anonymity on the

Internet, direct transactions between consumers are
prone to empty property, and it is difficult to establish
trust between consumers.
 Therefore, a platform with a well-established and
trustworthy mechanism can avoid fraud as much as
possible and protect the rights and interests of buyers
and sellers.
 Online Business Organization to Offline BO(O2O)
 Combines offline commerce with the Internet to make the Internet
a front desk for offline transactions, i.e. to establish to establish
connections between offline stores and online consumers.

 It removes the temporal and spatial distance between the service
and the consumer.
 It has four stages of operation.
1. Offline storefront merchants publish offline service
information on the O2O platform;
2. Consumers find offline stores that provide the
required services through search or platform
promotion;
3. Consumers make reservations or purchases for
services and make payments to generate orders;
4. Consumers go to the offline store to obtain the
required services and complete the order.
E.g. Tourism, catering, and beauty salon use such model to convert online
consumers in to offline/physical consumption.
 Government 2 Government(G2G)
 A model in w/c government agencies are the main
body and conduct e-government activities among
gov‘t agencies. 
 It is the basic application of e-government. It
combines electronic information technology and
management technology.
 To realize the functions of administration, service
and internal management locally is to establish an
organic service system among the government,
society and the public.
 More specifically, the purpose of the G2G model is
mainly reflected in the following five aspects:
 1. The realization of electronic and networking among various
departments of government agencies can effectively improve
the efficiency of administration, service and management.


2. The government can serve enterprises and citizens more
proactively.
 Enterprises and citizens can also master and understand
principles and policies without being limited by location and
time and can better accept management.
 3. Utilize the network and information system established by
the government to provide the public with high-quality and
authoritative diversified services.
 4. Promote and accelerate the development of
informationization of the whole society with the development
of government informationization.
5. Adapt to the development of the digital economy, guide,
plan and manage ecommerce activities, and establish a
supporting environment for e-commerce.
 Online and Offline Integration(O2On)
 The O2O model, also known as online and offline integration, is a
n

new e-commerce model that incorporates user experience and user

services into e-commerce.


 It combines the characteristics of the O2O model and the B2C model
to more closely integrate offline physical stores and online malls.
 To combine the two, two aspects of information fusion are needed.
 The first is data fusion, which means that the online
mall and offline store data are always consistent
and synchronized so that users can better
understand the information and experience the
service;
 the second is the integration of resources, the most
important of which are offline warehousing
resources and logistics resources, which can
quickly and efficiently complete logistics and
distribution.
 At present, the O2O model is still an emerging e-
n

commerce model, and its application has not yet


been popularized on a large scale.
 An example of this is Suning.cn, which not only has
an online mall with a detailed introduction and
display of products but also has a physical storefront
offline.
 The physical storefront is mainly based on services
and assistance, providing consumers with product
experience.
 Interacting with consumers, it can also promote new
products and collect consumers’ opinions.
 Electronic Contracts and the Law
 An electronic contract, or e-contract, is an agreement
created and signed electronically.

 It is a legally binding contract that is formed online, and
the parties interact with one another in a digital format,
rather than in-person or over the phone.
 E-contracts have three components, just like physical
contracts: offer, acceptance, and consideration.
 They can be created and signed using electronic means,
such as email or contract management software.
 E-contracts can eliminate many costs associated with
traditional pen-and-paper contracts and provide valid
and convenient solutions for businesses.
 They can be updated for all parties simultaneously in a central location,
without having different drafts of the contract.
 E-contracts are as legal and enforceable as traditional paper-and-ink
contracts, and contract law principles and remedies apply to them.


 Electronic contracts offer various advantages.
 A. Time-saving: Electronic contracts can reduce the time taken to create
and complete contracts by moving all paperwork regarding a contract
online.
B. Cost-saving: Electronic contracts can eliminate many costs associated
with traditional pen-and-paper contracts, such as printing, mailing, and storage
costs.
C. Convenience: Electronic contracts can be signed and executed from
anywhere, at any time, using electronic devices such as computers,
smartphones, or tablets.
D. Efficiency: Electronic contracts can streamline transactions and increase
efficiency by allowing for version control and updating for all parties
simultaneously in a central location.
E. Legally binding: Electronic contracts are as legal and enforceable as
traditional paper-and-ink contracts, and contract law principles and remedies
apply to them
 Drawbacks/Risks of e-kt
1. Authentication: There is a risk that the parties involved in the
contract may not be who they claim to be, which can lead to


fraud or misrepresentation.
2. Repudiation: There is a risk that one of the parties may deny
having agreed to the terms of the contract, which can lead to
disputes and legal challenges.
3. Compliance: There is a risk that electronic contracts may not
comply with legal requirements or industry standards, which
can lead to legal or financial consequences.
4. Admissibility: There is a risk that electronic contracts may not
be admissible as evidence in court, which can make it difficult
to enforce the terms of the contract.
5. Security: There is a risk that electronic contracts may be
vulnerable to fraud, forgery, or tampering, which can
compromise the security and authenticity of the contract
 Types of e-kts
1.Click wrap agreements: These are the most
common type of electronic contract and are
usually fairly simple.
They require the user to click a button or
check a box to indicate their agreement to the
terms and conditions presented by the party
that drafted the contract.
E.g. These are those agreements which popup
before entering into a website and require the
user to give his consent to the terms and
conditions by clicking on ‗I accept‘, ‗Ok‘,
‗Allow‘ or ‗I agree‘
2. Browse wrap agreements: These are similar to
clickwrap agreements, but the terms and conditions are
usually presented in a hyperlink at the bottom of a
webpage. 
The user is assumed to have agreed to the terms simply by
using the website.
 These agreements do not require the user to gives his
consent to the terms and conditions. It has the
automatic acceptance of the agreement by entering into
the website and using it.
 Terms and conditions of such agreements are provided
at the bottom of the website usually stating ―by using the
website/app, you accept and agree to be bound by the terms of
the agreements”
 Can we assume the consent of parties?
3. Shrinkwrap contracts: These are agreements that
are included with software or other products and

are only visible after the product has been opened.
By opening the product, the user is assumed to
have agreed to the terms and conditions.
 The products are enclosed in a shrink wrap implying
that the goods can only be viewed by the customer
who purchases it and usage of such product is
deemed acceptance of the agreement.
4. Web-Form Contracts: These are contracts that are filled
out and signed electronically using a web form.
5. Email agreements: These are contracts that are
negotiated and agreed upon through email.
6. Signature contracts: These are contracts that are
signed electronically using a digital signature.
 Legal issues of e-commerce
 E-commerce businesses face several legal issues
that they need to be aware of to ensure legal

compliance and avoid legal consequences. Here are
some of the legal issues associated with e-
commerce:
1. Liability and contractual information: E-commerce
businesses need to ensure that they provide
accurate and complete information about their
products and services and that their contracts are
legally binding.
2. Data protection and privacy: E-commerce
businesses need to comply with data protection and
privacy laws and regulations to protect their
3. Managing fraud and securing electronic transactions:
E-commerce businesses need to take measures to

prevent fraud and ensure the security of electronic
transactions.
4. Intellectual property infringement: E-commerce
businesses need to ensure that they do not infringe on
the intellectual property rights of others and that their
own intellectual property is protected.
5. Products being sold by unauthorized resellers: E-
commerce businesses need to ensure that their
products are not being sold by unauthorized resellers,
which can lead to legal and financial consequences
 To avoid these legal issues, e-commerce
businesses need to understand their legal

obligations and comply with laws and regulations
in every jurisdiction in which they operate.
They also need to take measures to protect their
customers' personal information, prevent fraud,
and ensure the security of electronic
transactions.
Additionally, e-commerce businesses need to
protect their intellectual property and ensure that
their products are not being sold by unauthorized
resellers.
E-commerce in Ethiopia

 Chapter Seven
Current Issues in the Digital
Economy

 The focuses of this chapter are
 Legal issues in the Robotics Technology
 Legal Issues of cyber warfare and cyber
terrorism
 Legal issues in the Block chain technology
 Legal Issues in Robotics Technology
 Legal issues in robotics technology are becoming
increasingly important as robots become more

prevalent in various industries.
 Here are some of the legal issues related to robotics
technology:
 1. Liability: One of the major issues when
discussing civil law rules on robotics is that of
liability for damages.
 Automation might challenge some of the existing
paradigms, and increasing human-machine
cooperation might cause different sets of existing
rules to overlap, leading to uncertainty, increased
litigation, and difficulties in insuring new products.
 IPRs
 Intellectual property: Robotics

technology can create interesting
legal issues, such as intellectual
new

property.
 For example, who owns the intellectual
property rights to a robot's design or
software?
 Data protection

 Data protection: Robots may inadvertently collect
personal data which needs to be handled and stored
in accordance with applicable data protection laws
Health and safety: Robotics technology can pose
health and safety risks to workers and the public.

Manufacturers and users of robots need to ensure
that they comply with relevant health and safety
regulations.
 Design Limitation
1. Design limitations: One of the challenges in the regulation of
robots concerns accidents caused by 'design limitations', i.e.
accidents that occur when the robot behaves in an

unexpected way due to a design flaw.
2. Personhood: The attribution of personhood to robots is a
possible non-issue when discussing rules for robotics. This is
because it is deprived of any reasonable grounding in
ontology.
 It is important to consider these legal issues carefully before
deploying robotics technology more widely. Otherwise, there
could be negative consequences that outweigh the benefits
of using these technologies
 Legal Issues in Cyber Warfare
and Cyber Terrorism
 Cyber warfare and cyber terrorism raise several legal

issues that need to be addressed.
 Here are some of the legal issues related to cyber
warfare and cyber terrorism:
1. Laws of War: The use of cyber attacks is governed by
the Law of Armed Conflict, which is derived from
international conventions and treaties.
2. Applicability of existing laws: Scholars continue to
debate whether existing international law principles,
including those that govern warfare, are sufficient to
address cyber attacks or whether a new legal
framework is needed to manage conflicts in
cyberspace
 3. Need for a new legal framework: Some scholars
argue that a new, comprehensive legal framework is

needed to address cyber attacks.
4. International Humanitarian Law: Fortunately, cyber
operations during armed conflicts are governed by
International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
5. Regulatory regime: There is a need to establish a
regulatory regime governing how countries can engage
in cyber activity, both offensive and defensive.
6. Attribution: One of the challenges in cyber warfare
is attribution, i.e., identifying the source of a cyber
attack.
 7. Domestic legal framework: There is a need to
develop a domestic legal framework for military cyber
operations.
8. Cyber convention: Deciding whether a new
convention is needed for cyberspace reaches far
beyond the use of cyber operations during armed
conflicts: it concerns a much larger spectrum of
international law issues.
 It is important to address these legal issues to
effectively regulate cyber operations during armed
conflicts and to ensure compliance with existing
rules of IHL.
 Block Chain Technology and the Law
 Blockchain technology has several legal issues that
need to be addressed.

 Here are some of the legal issues related to blockchain
technology:
1. Compliance with data protection laws: Any blockchain
system that holds personal data will need to comply with
applicable data protection laws.
2. Jurisdictional issues: One of the biggest legal
challenges facing blockchain technology is the issue of
jurisdiction.
3. Intellectual property: Blockchain technology raises
intellectual property issues, such as who owns the
intellectual property rights to a blockchain's design or
software
4. Cybersecurity: Blockchain technology is not
immune to cybersecurity threats, and blockchain

companies need to ensure that they have adequate
cybersecurity measures in place.
5. Force Majeure: In the case of a blockchain-based
system, there may be legal issues to consider, such
as malfunctioning of a smart contract, issues in
transferring cryptocurrencies, a party's access to the
blockchain being compromised, etc.
6. Ownership of data: There will be unique issues
concerning ownership of data residing on the
blockchain.
7. Governing law: Blockchain companies need to
consider the governing law that will apply to their
operations. 
8. Accountability and decentralization: Blockchain
technology raises issues of accountability and
decentralization, as there is no central authority that
can be held responsible for the actions of the network.
9. Virtual assets: If the blockchain system makes use
of virtual assets in its operation, a new host of
complications arise, such as the status of
cryptocurrencies varying across jurisdictions.
10. Compliance and transparency: Blockchain
technology can make the legal sector more

transparent by creating a shared ledger
accessible by all parties to an agreement.
Blockchain-based contracts have baked-in
compliance, no surprises, and no room for
misinterpretation.
It is important to address these legal issues
to ensure that blockchain technology is used
effectively and ethically.
 Thanks

The Beginning !