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UK: Home Office to retreat on cyber-spying bill

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2000/24/ns-16179.html

Home Office to retreat on cyber-spying bill

Thu, 22 Jun 2000 16:23:00 GMT Will Knight

Government could tone down controversial aspects of RIP to get bill through conference

The Home Office is preparing to retreat on the most controversial aspects of the oft-condemned, cyber-snooping RIP (Regulation of Investigatory Powers) Bill, according to the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC).

The BCC suggested the government intends to amend RIP in order to smooth its path through the House of Lords, where serious concerns about the legislation have been raised. "The message from our conversations with the Home Office is that they are prepared to move on some of the areas causing concern to business," said a BCC spokesman.

The changes could affect the bill's most controversial aspects, including measures that require expensive equipment installations by Internet service providers (ISPs), the regulation of decryption notices and the liability of law enforcers in possession of confiscated encryption keys.

A week ago the BCC commissioned a report indicating the legislation could cost British e-commerce billions in lost revenue over the next five years. As it stands, the bill proposes to enforce ISPs to fit technology enabling communications interception and gives law enforcers powers to demand keys to encrypted data unless a suspect can prove he doesn't have access to the keys. This last aspect is considered by some to violate European human rights law.

A government retreat would take the form of either an amendment or an extra piece of legislation called a "code of practice". On Monday Lord Bassam told the House that the Bill requires a code of practice to clarify the meaning of confiscating "communications data". He said that this could be taken to mean virtually all information.

The Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) waded into the controversy Wednesday suggesting that the Bill is fundamentally unsound in a report called RIP: How to bring a deeply flawed bill back from the dead. The report outlines objections to the workability of the Bill and highlights fears that it will cost the ISP industry dearly.

Richard Clayton, Internet policy expert and author of the ISPA report, is cautious about possible Home Office concessions. "There are a number of issues the industry has with [the bill] and we'd like to see movement on all of them," he said. "But the government has promised movement before, so I'm going to wait and see."

The Home Office would not confirm what amendments could be on the way but indicated that significant change could be coming. "Throughout the passage of the bill we have enjoyed a constant dialogue with relevant industry players. Where changes which offer reassurance but maintain the balance of the Bill can be made, they have. The Bill's passage through the Lords will be no different," a spokesman said.

IT Week's David Neal contributed to this report

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