Father of the web lashes snooping Bill

[William Knowles <erehwon () C4I ORG>]

http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,330725,00.html

Jamie Doward
Sunday June 11, 2000

Tim Berners-Lee, regarded as the father of the world wide web, has
launched a blistering attack on government plans to give the security
services sweeping powers to intercept emails and monitor traffic on the
internet. The computer scientist who invented the technologies which
underpin the web told The Observer that the Regulation of Investigatory
Powers Bill would stifle the development of the internet.

He said the Bill - now going through the House of Lords - would have been
thrown out 'in a second' in the US. 'It gives a government great power to
abuse personal and commercial innovation.'

Once the Bill becomes law every internet service provider (ISP) in the UK
will be required to install a link to the security services, whichwill
then be able to monitor internet traffic. Security services will be able
to find out which websites users look at, which pages they download, and
which chatrooms or discussion groups they frequent.

Even more controversially, the Bill gives the Home Secretary the power to
demand the surrender of keys to en-crypted data - a proposal which has
been fiercely criticised by civil liberties and business organisations
alike.

Other campaigners have pointed out that the Bill does not recognise the
global nature of the internet and is therefore doomed to failure.

Berners-Lee believes the Bill fails to make governments accountable for
their actions: 'There's very little protection. There's no recourse if
your information has been pilfered by the Government, and even if it comes
to light there is very little you can do.'

He is also concerned that third parties will be unable to monitor the
authorities' actions: 'Is there any way the press can ever find out to
what extent this is happening? Is there any independent agency which has
the right to follow up every request and find out statistically to what
extent some of these things were just abuses of power?'

Some commentators claim that an unregulated internet is far more dangerous
than the threat of a strong-armed Government. They cite the example of
David Copeland, currently being tried at the Old Bailey for causing bomb
explosions in London, who allegedly found out how to make bombs on the
web.

But Berners-Lee argues that you cannot shoot the messenger. 'The internet
is an enabling technology. Information has always been powerful and
suddenly we have a much more powerful information tool, and this poses
challenges to society to use it for good rather than bad.'

His attack comes days after the Bill was attacked by the Institute of
Directors. Professor Jim Norton, head of e-business policy, expressed
fears that the Bill could be interpreted too broadly - giving government
excessive powers and even forcing companies to move abroad.

'Is it really the intention to provide Inland Revenue or VAT inspectors or
DTI company investigators with these powers?' he said. Many companies were
worried, 'especially multinationals who contrast the proposed UK
legislation with far more business-friendly proposals in Ireland, France,
Germany and even the US.'

The Government will come under further pressure later this week when the
London School of Economics releases a research paper highly critical of
the Bill. The paper - commissioned by the British Chamber of Commerce -
will argue that the Bill risks inflicting serious damage to both business
and civil liberties


------------------------------------------------
Private information is practically the source of
every large modern fortune.       -- Oscar Wilde
------------------------------------------------
erehwon () c4i org      http://www.c4i.org/erehwon/
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