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[FYI] (Fwd) Silicon.com: The Big Question: UK Government 'right to give police snooping powers'




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From:           	Owen Blacker <owen.blacker@pres.co.uk>
To:             	"'UK Crypto list'" <ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk>,
       	"'STAND list'"
 	<plotting@netlists.liberty.org.uk>
Subject:        	Silicon.com: The Big Question: Government 'right to give police s
	nooping powers'
Date sent:      	Mon, 10 Jul 2000 19:14:37 +0100
Send reply to:  	ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk

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- -----Original Message-----
From: NMTV.WebMaster@www.nmtv.net [mailto:NMTV.WebMaster@www.nmtv.net]
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 6:57 PM


The Big Question: Government 'right to give police snooping powers'
PUBLISHED: 0:15am on Monday 10th July 2000

The UK police should be allowed to intercept private emails
if it helps fight crime and terrorism, according to the
leading ecommerce figures interviewed on this week's Big
Question programme.

Despite widespread criticism that the RIP Bill gives the
police too much authority, this week's contributors told
silicon.com that it was necessary for police to have
so-called "snooping" powers, even if it angered civil
liberties groups.

Jane Fitzpatrick, founder and director of e-angel, said
that giving the police power to intercept email was
important in the fight against crime.

"On the surface it would seem reasonable given that we're a
country that has been subject to terrorism over the past
few decades.  However, having said that, these rules will
have the human rights groups concerned," she said.

Charles Baxter, senior information security manager at
Barclays, agreed that in some situations it would be
necessary for the police to hold this power.

"In some cases there is information the police need to
catch criminals and terrorists. But on the other hand there
are commercial considerations of confidentiality. Law
abiding citizens have a right to expect that their
commercial information will remain confidential," he said.

But Paddy Falls, CEO with iOra, claimed that the Bill would
force companies out of the UK.

"I don't think the government should intercept e-mail. It
will impose requirements on  ISPs to slow down their
network performance in order to monitor the e-mail.  The
internet is global  they will just go to another country
and put their service on the internet," said Falls.

Kathryn Bullock, chair of E-women, agreed: "It has to be
done very carefully, as people still don't trust the web.
Anything that makes them think other people are
intercepting data will dash confidence"

You can see this week's Big Question in our E-security
Channel (http://www.silicon.com/a38475 ).

For related news, see:
'Pressure groups hold Snooping Bill summit'
http://www.silicon.com/a38421
'Home Office issues Snooping Bill defence'
http://www.silicon.com/a38107
'Behind the Headlines: 'Snooping Bill' praised by John
Menzies' IT chief' http://www.silicon.com/a37980
'Minister dismisses civil rights objections to RIP Bill'
http://www.silicon.com/a36389

Copyright 1998 - 2000 NMTV/Silicon.com. All rights reserved.

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