Crime from the keyboard: organised cybercrime,co-offending,initiation and knowledge transmission

This paper examines a predominantly Australian sample of computer crime offenders involved in fraud and/or unauthorised access. This paper focuses on the extent to which offenders are involved in organised crime, the nature of the relationship between co-offending, initiation and knowledge transmission, and how the online environment facilitates organised crime and co-offending. This qualitative analysis draws from interviews with self-identified offenders, law enforcement officers who investigate these offenses, and court documents, providing a unique understanding of organised crime involving computer systems.     

The expansion of capitalist relations of production in Mexican crafts

Significant changes are occurring in the relations of production and exchange in rural Mexican crafts, with increased merchant control over production constituting one of the more salient aspects of this process. Among the factors stimulating this development are the continuing proletarianisation of the Mexican peasantry and the considerable growth of the tourist market. This article discusses the changes in production relations taking place in the artisan industries of Yucatan and the parallel developments reported elsewhere in Mexico. It is concluded that although retaining certain ‘precapitalist’ features, relations of production in rural artisanty are increasingly determined by the larger capitalist economy.’     

A Tradition of Transgression

A. S. Byatt, Possession, Chatto &; Windus Ltd, London, £13.95     

A public policy paradox

Over the last two decades policy analysis has flourished, as government has turned increasingly to the services of policy experts. With the refinement of analytic tools vast amounts of data have been made available to decision-makers. These developments have no doubt enhanced the management of many government programs. But some of the most serious policy problems—those involving macroeconomic policy and aspects of foreign policy — have not yielded to solutions. Moreover, the abundance of data has sometimes been overwhelming for decision-makers, a fact that may explain in part the inclination of many to seek simple and painless panaceas for complex problems. Although policy analysis can help the policymaker, it does not provide an avenue of escape from difficult decisions.