US Attorney General John Ashcroft bit the cybercrime hook dangled by media and dotcom giants eager to see taxpayer dollars spent cracking down on offences which they're too greedy to prevent with adequate access controls and proper network hygiene.

Ashcroft, therefore, is obediently forming nine crack cybersquads to prosecute hacking and copyright violations, moving the DoJ and FBI a step closer to becoming a hacking/copyright 911-line for mega corporations in distress.

Failure to whip information highway brigands into line with a solid program of law and order would impair "the ability of the United States of America to remain in its position of priority in leading the world in the digital age," Ashcroft said during a press conference, minutes after being run through the grease in meetings with tech industry 'leaders'.

We'd hoped he might show more sense than to be taken in by cybercrime alarmist rhetoric, but we're immensely grateful that he managed to deliver his speech -- unlike his child-protective hysteric predecessor -- without insisting that the Internet is populated by tens of millions of slobbering pedophiles. Certainly an improvement if not a breakthrough. ®