withold password, go to jail

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: David Magda <dmagda () ee ryerson ca>
> Date: August 11, 2009 12:21:41 PDT
> To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: withold password, go to jail

> For IP?
>
> "The Register" is reporting that two people in the UK have been  
> convicted
> under Section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA),
> Part III:
>
> > Two people have been successfully prosecuted for refusing to provide
> > authorities with their encryption keys, resulting in landmark  
> > convictions
> > that may have carried jail sentences of up to five years. [...]
> >
> > Sir Christopher [Rose] reported that all of the [fifteen] section 49
> > notices served over the year--including the two that resulted in
> > convictions--were in "counter terrorism, child indecency and domestic
> > extremism" cases.
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/11/ripa_iii_figures/
>
> It may be prudent to follow Bruce Schneier's advice and create a  
> random
> key on a USB stick and mail it someone else, so you can honestly say  
> you
> don't know the key:
>
> > There's another solution, one that works with whole-disk encryption
> > products like PGP Disk (I'm on PGP's advisory board), TrueCrypt, and
> > BitLocker: Encrypt the data to a key you don't know.
>
> http://www.schneier.com/essay-279.html
>
> Any legal scholars around? If you don't know the pass phrase to your
> encrypted data, but do know where the key file is, can you withhold / 
> that/
> information from the police?
>
>
> When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir pelcgbtencul.
>
> --
> David Magda <dmagda at ee.ryerson.ca>
> Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well  
> under
> the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well
> under the new. -- Niccolo Machiavelli, _The Prince_, Chapter VI



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