Idea of the Day: Establish Coordinated Efforts with Other Attorneys General to Fight Online Fraud

August 18, 2008

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State attorneys general frequently engage in coordinated multi-state investigations in civil cases, but these usually focus on one company at a time, as with the Sony BMG case discussed earlier. There is no standing multi-state task force on Internet fraud and abuse that pools evidence and ideas, expands jurisdictional authority by having states issue subpoenas on each other’s behalf, and takes collective action. In the criminal context, by contrast, there are a number of multi-state task forces, such as the Crimes Against Children Task Force. Without coordination, states may be deterred from pursuing cases that are cross-jurisdictional—as Internet cases typically are—or if they proceed alone, they may bring weak cases. By improving coordination, perhaps by establishing a standing Internet task force, attorneys general can build more cases with better evidence.

For more information on this topic, please see:

• Online Consumers at Risk and the Role of State Attorneys General by Reece Rushing, Ari Schwartz, and Alissa Cooper