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United States Department of Justice
Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section
(USDOJ/CCIPS)

Commentary 1
Stats: CCIPS is located in Washington, D.C. in the Criminal Division building (a few blocks from main DoJ), and numbers 20-25 attorneys. In the summer of 2001 there were 5 legal interns at the section.
Program: All the legal interns were there for the whole summer. Each was paired with a "mentor" attorney to whom he/she could turn for general guidance; this was in addition to the attorney who coordinated the summer program and was also available for advice.
Training: Most of the training was learning-by-doing. However, there were occasional satellite-broadcast lectures on various subjects which all interns were invited to view. One especially memorable session was a presentation by a Special Agent of the U.S. Secret Service on various high-tech gadgets used by criminals (many of which, such as illegal surveillance tools and access devices, were directly relevant to CCIPS' work). Additional events included tours of the Supreme Court and the FBI, as well as presentations by the general counsel offices of several federal agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Defense.
Work Assignments: My assignments spanned the length and breadth of the section's activities, both in terms of type of work - trial preparation, legislative policy, coordination with other agencies, and clarification of the law for the benefit of U.S. Attorney's Offices - and in terms of the subject matter - intellectual property crimes, illegal access, computer fraud / computer intrusion, electronic surveillance, electronic search & seizure, and so on. The program coordinator was generally a good manager of interns' workloads, making sure nobody was either overworked or idling for too long. The assignment system was fairly flexible and accommodating of the interns' wishes, though each intern inevitably got one or two less-than-exhilarating assignments.
Atmosphere: Very genial. The attorneys were generally great to work with and fun to chat with. Casual dress (that's "casual" not "business casual") every day except for official meetings.
Hours: Usually 9-6.
Support: The computers were SLOW but I heard they were being replaced. The Division's library (one floor down) is pretty well-stocked.
Conclusion: Highly recommended for anyone interested in cybercrime.

Contacts:
Yair Galil ('03) - yygalil@hotmail.com

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