In most cases, police say the targets, perpetrators and beneficiaries of these "iCrimes" are young people.

Last weekend in Toronto's west end, four people with iPods were taken to hospital with cuts and bruises after being swarmed by a gang of youths wielding a metal mallet used to tenderize meat. Nine people were subsequently arrested and charged.

At least nine people in Toronto — most of them youths — have been mugged for their iPods since late October.

Criminologists have previously argued that crime occurs when three things come together: a motivated offender encounters a suitable victim and perceives a high chance of getting away with it. All three factors converge in "iCrime".

Offenders are motivated because iPods are seen as desirable items and aren't cheap; the victim is suitable because he/she is distracted listening to music. And the crime is relatively easy to get away with because iPods cannot be traced/cancelled.

The recent increase in violent crime defies easy explanation, and many hypotheses have been put forward for debate. In this brief, we propose that the rise in violent offending and the explosion in the sales of iPods and other portable media devices is more than coincidental. We propose that, over the past two years, America may have experienced an iCrime wave.