While the Internet has revolutionized communication and information transmission, Net anonymity has made it easier to engage in illegal activities. Numerous Web sites carry information on child pornography, sales of stimulant drugs and other illicit activities. Some Web sites even appear to be recruiting people to engage in crime.
The police are conducting cyber patrol to find Web sites that are carrying illegal or harmful information. Last year, they took action on 4,425 cybercrime cases, a 40 percent increase over the previous year.
The Internet can be used as a tool to carry out very serious crimes. A case in point is the abduction and killing of a 31-year-old woman in Nagoya in August. A man placed a notice on a mobile phone Web site, inviting mobile phone users to do "offstage" work. Two men responded.