TEMA 1 – CRIMES VIRTUAIS The development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has facilitated access to and dissemination of infor...

TEMA 1 – CRIMES VIRTUAIS

The development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has facilitated access to and dissemination of information, trade in products and services - including via the internet - eliminating geographical barriers and facilitating access to products and services available in Brazil and abroad.

Not surprisingly, the development of e-commerce is directly related to the spread of commercial use of the internet in Brazil, starting in the 1990s.

However, along with the facilities brought by ICTs, new forms of criminality have emerged, supported by the new reality provided by virtual relationships on the internet.

For Guilherme de Souza Nucci (2021), criminal law corresponds to the body of legal norms aimed at combating crime and defending society, according to the text of criminal laws such as the Penal Code (Brazil, 1940).

Criminal law corresponds to a sovereign power of the State, which is realized through criminal legislation, which allows the State to fulfill its original function, which is to ensure the conditions of existence and continuity of social organization.

The Brazilian Penal Code is the result of Decree-Law No. 2,848/1940 (Brazil, 1940). Its wording has been updated and improved since then.

However, its basic text dates back to a time when society was analog, that is, a society in which communication took place through print media, radio, television, and in which business relationships were essentially face-to-face.

The pace of technological innovations was slower compared to today, and the concepts related to human dignity and privacy were different from how we know them today.

With the emergence of the information society, which Manuel Castells (1999, cited by Boff; Fortes; Freitas, 2018, p. 36) defines as the social organization in which the generation, processing, and communication of information are fundamental sources of productivity and power provided by new technologies. Several facilities are provided by the internet, such as e-commerce offerings, online banking transactions through internet banking, online payments - through tools such as PayPal, PagSeguro, PicPay, Mercado Pago, Apple Pay, Pix, available electronic transfer (TED), credit document (DOC), among others - or face-to-face, such as the use of Quick Response (QR) Code or proximity, via near field communication (NFC).

These forms of payment do not require the use of cash (we carry less and less cash), checks (we use less and less) or even the use of plastic credit cards.

There is also the hiring of products and services via applications, which also encourage the use of electronic payment.