Fourth Amendment Future: Virtual Searches

Susan Brenner, a law professor, has written a law review to be published later this year. The abstract:

This article examines the 4th Amendment implications of two tactics that may become part of law enforcement’s efforts to investigate and otherwise control criminal activity. The first is the use of certain types of software, most notably Trojan horse programs, to conduct surreptitious, remote searches of computers and computer media. The other tactic is the use of “virtual force,” e.g., using Distributed Denial of Service and other attacks to shut down or otherwise disable websites that host offending content and/or activities.

The text of the full article is available here. The topic raises interesting and alarming questions about the future of the Fourth Amendment in light of the information age in which we now live.