Section 3 High-Technology Offenses
1 Trends in high-technology offenses
Table 1-3-3-1 shows the number of cleared cases for offenses involving computers or electromagnetic records (unauthorized creation or damaging of electromagnetic records, etc., obstruction of business by damaging a computer, etc., computer fraud, and illegal creation of unauthorized commands for electromagnetic records, etc.), offenses related to the electromagnetic records of payment cards, and Unauthorized Computer Access Act violations over the last five years. Unauthorized Computer Access Act violations were sharply increasing from 2005, but significantly decreased from the previous year in 2011, with the number of cleared cases being 248 (down 84.5% from the previous year) and the number of persons cleared 114 (down 8.8% (id.)). In addition, three cases were cleared for “illegal creation of unauthorized commands for electromagnetic records, etc.,” a new offense created by a partial revision of the Penal Code (Source: The Community Safety Bureau, National Police Agency).
Table 1-3-3-1 Number of cleared cases for offenses involving computers or electromagnetic records, etc. (2007-2011)
Table 1-3-3-2 shows the number of cleared cases for offenses using cyber networks (offenses using cyber networks including fraud and child prostitution cases, etc. over the internet) over the last five years. The number of cleared cases for offenses using cyber networks was on an increasing trend, and was 5,388 in 2011 (up 3.6% from the previous year). By type of offense, the number of cleared cases for fraud, which was consistent at a high level, significantly decreased in 2011 to 899 (down 42.6% from the previous year). Of fraud cases 389 (43.3%) involved offenses related to internet auctions (Source: The Community Safety Bureau, National Police Agency). The number of cleared cases for sexual offenses against children was on an increasing trend. In 2011 the number of cleared cases for child pornography and that of child prostitution increased by 12.8% and 8.3%, respectively, from the previous year. That for Internet Dating Site Control Act violations also increased by 12.6%. The number of cleared cases for Youth Protection Ordinance violations decreased by 9.8%.
A revision of the Penal Code, etc. in June 2011 (by Act No. 74 of 2011) created a new offense of the illegal creation of unauthorized commands for electromagnetic records, etc. (creation/provision of so-called computer viruses, etc.) and expanded the acts subject to penalty for distribution of obscene objects, etc. (act of distributing obscene electromagnetic records using telecommunications, etc.) (enforced on July 14, 2011).
In addition, the Unauthorized Computer Access Act was revised (by Act No. 12 of 2012) in March 2012 with the aim of strengthening preventive measures against unauthorized computer access and in thereby responding to a sharp increase in the risk of cybercrime. This resulted in the creation of a new offense of illegal acquisition of someone else‘s ID or password and raised the upper limit of the statutory penalty of imprisonment with work from one year to three years for unauthorized computer access, etc. (enforced on May 1, 2012).
The number of cleared cases for distribution of obscene objects, etc. significantly increased from the previous year in 2011 to 699 (approximately 3.2 times that of the previous year).
Table 1-3-3-2 Number of cleared cases for offenses using cyber networks (2007-2011)
