Report: Analysis of Computer Misuse Act 1990 and Relevant Case Studies

This report delves into the Computer Misuse Act 1990, a crucial piece of UK legislation designed to combat cybercrime. It begins with a case study involving two employees of an IT company, where one employee misuses the other's computer, leading to system crashes and data deletion. The report then provides an overview of the Computer Misuse Act, outlining its three main categories of offenses, including unauthorized access, intent to commit fraud, and unauthorized modification of data or programs, along with the penalties associated with each offense, such as imprisonment and fines. Furthermore, the report includes several case laws, such as R v Samir Desai, R v Mustafa Kasim, and R v Kane Gamble, providing insights into real-world scenarios and court judgements related to the Act. These cases cover a range of offenses, from data theft and hacking to social engineering. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of the Computer Misuse Act in maintaining order and security in the digital realm, highlighting that both intentional and unintentional violations can lead to significant legal consequences, and summarizing the legal outcomes of various related cases.

CRIMINAL LAW

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
CASE STUDY.................................................................................................................................1
Computer Misuse Act, 1990............................................................................................................2
Similar Case with their Judgements.................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
.........................................................................................................................................................6
.........................................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Criminal law is defined as the body of law that applies to criminal acts. It is the only
body of government through which organised societies protects the security of individuals
interest and ensure the survival of the group1. The main objective of this law is to reduce the
criminal activities with in the boundary of a country. UK government have done lots of
amendment in the recent period to reduce the crime and make people feel safe in the society. In
this report the discussion will be on the topic of Computer Misuse Act, 1990 where various
cases are also mentioned related to the topic of crime.
CASE STUDY
The given case is related with the misuse of computer data under Misuse Act, 1990
where there are two employee's of Orange Computer which is a IT company. JoJo and Nikos
had a argument with each other so JoJo goes to Nikos office just to confront him. JoJo misuse
the computer of Nikos after reaching in the premisses of office because Nikos was not their at
that time. After using his computer JoJo feels bad because Nikos has told him not to use his PC
in any of the situation.
After returning back to home JoJo forgives Nikos for the argument which had occurred
between them because he realised that the fault was of his boss. So , JoJo decided to send
large volume of emails to his boss just to crash the system and as a result the server become
inoperative for at least one weak. JoJo also decided to send mail to Nikos for apologising but
due to minor mistake he send virus to Nikos which deleted the entire content of Nikos
computer .
1 Cassese, Antonio.(Cassese's international criminal law. Oxford university press, 2013)
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Computer Misuse Act, 1990
Computer Misuse Act, 1990 was came into force just to reduce the unnecessary
activities which are being conducted through the means of internet 2. This Act was introduced by
Michael Colvin which got the Royal assent on 29th June 1990. This issue have increases in high
speed in recent period. This act was created into three different categories of offence and they
are:
 Unauthorised access to computer material.
 Unauthorised access with the intent to commit fraud where personal recodes of any
company are copied for the purpose of blackmail.
 Trying to do any unnecessary modification of program or data of a computer.
Any person found guilty under this Act will have to face various penalties under section 1
and they are:
 imprisonment for a term not exceeding the period of 5 years.
 fine can also be imposed according to the level of crime 3.
 or both
In this case, Mr. JoJo did the criminal offence under section 1 of Computer Misuse Act
1990 as he misused the technology of computer by sending the large number of mails to slow
down the serve for a week of Orange Computers. Also, the virus which JoJo send to Nikos
through the mode of email also falls under the criminal activity because this law clearly says that
any activity which is done either intentionally or without intentionally will be counted as criminal
activity. According to this law the different penalties that can be imposed on JoJo are listed
below:
 Imprisonment can be given or fine can also be claimed.
2 Duff, Robin Antony. ("Criminal attempts." International Encyclopedia of Ethics 2013)
3 Kadish, and et. al. Criminal law and its processes (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, 2016.)
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 Or both.
Similar Case with their Judgements
Case law: R v Samir Desai
Facts: In this case, Samir Desai attacted his former employer's computer due to which
employer face different financial losses in the market 4.
Judgement: In the above case the Birmingham Crown Court decided that Samir Desai must be
suspended for two years and 15months of Imprisonment with addition to pay compensation of
£20,000.
Case law: R v Mustafa Kasim
Facts: In this case, Kasim steal the personal details from the employer's vehicle repair software
package.
Judgement: In this case the Wood Green Crown Court decided to sentence a six month
imprisonment to Kasim 5.
Case law: R v Dominik James
Facts: James hacked the iCloud account of over 30 women's and shared them online.
Judgements: The honourable judges of Basildon Crown Court decided to send James to jail
for 8months 6.
Case law: R v Sadiyya Dakri
4 Farahany, Nita "Neuroscience and behavioral genetics in US criminal law: (an empirical
analysis."Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 2016) 485-509.
5 Robinson, Paul. "A Functional Analysis of Criminal Law. (The Structure and Limits of Criminal
Law. Routledge, 2017) 175-232.
6 Aliverti, Ana. Crimes of mobility (criminal law and the regulation of immigration. Routledge,
2013).
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Facts: Sadiyya Dakri hacked the software of Leicestershire Police system without any
authorisation.
Judgement: In this particular case, Leicester Crown Court declared the 12 month imprisonment
to Sadiyya Dakri 7.
Case law: R v Kane Gamble
Facts: In this case, the 15 year old Kane Gamble used social engineering to hack the email
account of US government.
Judgement: Under this case the Central Criminal Court decided to send Kane Gamble to youth
detention for the period of two years and in addition all the gadgets related to computer will be
seized
Case Law: R v Michelle Denne
Facts: In this case, the Denne accessed the Staffordshire Police Computer system just to find
information of her partner's ex-wife and children.
Judgement: The Birmingham Magistrates decided that Michelle Denne must be sent for si9x
months community service order with ten days of community rehabilitation work. Also she must
pay £185 court costs and £85 victim surcharge 8.
Case law: R v Craig Steinberg
Facts: In this case the 31 year old Bar manger hacked 272 Apple iCloud account to grab private
photographs which he posted in his personal websites and charged member to access.
Judgement: Newcastle Crown Court decided to send Craig to Jail for 34 months.
Case law: R v Thomas Fendall
Facts: In this case, Thomas accessed the restricted material of police stations computer system
so that he can frame a murder with the help of innocent man.
7 Peter, Constitutional Law of Canada (Carswell, 2017)
8 Brown, Darryl . (Criminal law reform and the persistence of strict liability 2012) 285.
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Judgement: The Liverpool Crown Court decided that Thomas should go behind the
imprisonment for 19 months
Case law: R v Neil Hempsell
Facts: In the relevant case, police officer hacked the computer of police to contact sex workers
9.
Judgement: The Teesside Crown Court decided that Neil Hempsell must not receive the salary
of 255 hours.
Case law: R v Kyoji Mochizuki
Facts: The case was related with hacking where Elmughrabi bombarded Sussex police's
contact centre with over 3000 mails in the period of six hours 10.
Judgement: The court decided Kyoji Mochizuki should be send to prison for ten months and
should be suspended for 18 months.
This are some of the related case laws which can enhance the knowledge regarding
Computer Misuse Act 1990 where simple mistakes under this law can create a problem for
individuals career (Cases of Computer Misuse Act, 2018).
9 Kleinfeld, Joshua. Reconstructivism.(The Place of Criminal Law in Ethical Life, 2015) 1485.
10 Schmalleger, Frank, et al. Criminal justice today. (Prentice Hall, 2014)
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CONCLUSION
From the above file it can be concluded that, the purpose of Criminal law was to make
peace and silence in the nation where. This law helps to give appropriate judgement to those
people who are fund guilty under any criminal activity. Computer Misuse Act is also one of the
sub-part of Criminal law which was introduce to reduce cyber crime which have been one of the
major issue of every nation. Once this act came into force the number of crime have been
reduced significantly. The case study have tough the simple lesson where it is mentioned that
the whether crime is done intentionally or not but if any one if found guilty then they must suffer
from various penalties. Also, the various case studies helped to find what can be the judgement
of judges for any related case law whether they use common law or follow the process of
legislation for giving particular decisions.
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REFERENCES
Online
Cases of Computer Misuse Act, 2018 [Online]. Available through
<http://www.computerevidence.co.uk/Cases/CMA.htm>
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