Reference no: EM133267011

Assume that Canada has an advanced, but porous, system of Internet connections with the wider world. Further assume that in July 2019, the Canadian government decides to spur on the development of its municipal broadband networks.  However, in its rush to launch the new services, basic cybersecurity safeguards such as ISP-level firewalls and anti-virus programs are absent.  An organized crime syndicate based in Belarus takes note of this development, and sets up operations within Vancouver to more easily (and quickly) attack soft targets based in the United States.  The group's favorite tactic is to use ransomware to go after hospitals and other health providers.  A hospital chain in Seattle is subsequently attacked, and the investigators trace the exploit back to IP addresses used by a well-known cybercrime group now active in Vancouver.  At the urging of the Governor of Washington, the United States government decides to sue Canada in the International Court of Justice over its cybersecurity policies. Which party will win? Why? 

The following concepts and precedents may be helpful to consider as you prepare:

• Sovereignty
• Sources of international law (including benefits and drawbacks of customary international law)
• ICJ Corfu Channel case, in which the Court found Albania liable for damage incurred by a British ship struck by Albanian mines in a narrow channel, holding: every state is obliged "not to knowingly allow its territory to be used for acts contrary to the rights of other States."
• Statement on sovereignty from well-known publicist: "The modern polity is known as the State, and the fundamental characteristic of authority within it is still sovereignty."