Minnesota court takes dim view of encryption

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: EEkid () aol com
Date: May 24, 2005 10:52:01 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Minnesota court takes dim view of encryption


Minnesota court takes dim view of encryption
Published: May 24, 2005, 3:02 PM PDT
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com


A Minnesota appeals court has ruled that the presence of encryption  
software on a computer may be viewed as evidence of criminal intent.

Ari David Levie, who was convicted of photographing a nude 9-year-old  
girl, argued on appeal that the PGP encryption utility on his  
computer was irrelevant and should not have been admitted as evidence  
during his trial. PGP stands for Pretty Good Privacy and is sold by  
PGP Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.

But the Minnesota appeals court ruled 3-0 that the trial judge was  
correct to let that information be used when handing down a guilty  
verdict.

"We find that evidence of appellant's Internet use and the existence  
of an encryption program on his computer was at least somewhat  
relevant to the state's case against him," Judge R.A. Randall wrote  
in an opinion dated May 3.

 Randall favorably cited testimony given by retired police officer  
Brooke Schaub, who prepared a computer forensics report--called an  
EnCase Report--for the prosecution. Schaub testified that PGP "can  
basically encrypt any file" and "other than the National Security  
Agency," nobody could break it.

The court didn't say that police had unearthed any encrypted files or  
how it would view the use of standard software like OS X's FileVault.  
Rather, Levie's conviction was based on the in-person testimony of  
the girl who said she was paid to pose nude, coupled with the history  
of searches for "Lolitas" in Levie's Web browser.

Judge Thomas Bibus had convicted Levie of two counts of attempted use  
of a minor in a sexual performance and two counts of solicitation of  
a child to engage in sexual conduct. The appeals court reversed the  
two convictions for attempted use of a minor, upheld the two  
solicitation convictions, and sent the case back to Bibus for a new  
sentence.

http://news.com.com/Minnesota+court+takes+dim+view+of+encryption/ 
2100-1030_3-5718978.html?tag=cd.top


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