"piracy Police Get New Weapon" Against Kazaa Users

In the UK, if you encrypt data in such a way that even your ISP cant read it, it is a seriously good way to draw attention to yourself. They may even decide to inform the authorities. Particularly with everyone so paranoid about terrorism etc. They may be forced to hand over the encrypted data and provide your personal details. You really don't want this to happen. At the very least they may cut you off to protect their own position.

Please don't kid yourself. You will not be able to encrypt in such a way that it will not be able to be opened. They may not even bother, they may just come and talk to you instead. Or indeed your parents. Incidentally if they are forced to hand over the data and they have a key for it, they will also be obliged to hand that over as well.

If your ISP is currently monitoring your traffic and isn't complaining about it then why do something to rock the boat.

damn uk man, they have a problem with everything

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Originally posted by JmiF@5 March 2003 - 13:11
In the UK, if you encrypt data in such a way that even your ISP cant read it, it is a seriously good way to draw attention to yourself. They may even decide to inform the authorities. Particularly with everyone so paranoid about terrorism etc. They may be forced to hand over the encrypted data and provide your personal details. You really don't want this to happen. At the very least they may cut you off to protect their own position.

Please don't kid yourself. You will not be able to encrypt in such a way that it will not be able to be opened. They may not even bother, they may just come and talk to you instead. Or indeed your parents. Incidentally if they are forced to hand over the data and they have a key for it, they will also be obliged to hand that over as well.

If your ISP is currently monitoring your traffic and isn't complaining about it then why do something to rock the boat.

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Yeah. I know about the UK law. Sucks don't it? I'm glad I'm in America. It may draw attention to you, but it is officially legal here. I read that in England there is legislation (or propoped legislation, I'm not sure which) that states that if you send an encrypted file and refuse to give the government the key, they can give you an automatic 2 year prison sentence. Proud to be an American.
Also, it is possible to stop your ISP/ Government from reading your encrypted traffic. Because if you use public key cryptography the ISP will not have a decrypted copy of the secret key. Just do a google search for asymmetric encryption. There are many encryption algorithms out there that have been studied by professionals for years without finding any cracks... See Blowfish, etc.

[I read that in England there is legislation (or propoped legislation, I'm not sure which) that states that if you send an encrypted file and refuse to give the government the key, they can give you an automatic 2 year prison sentence. Proud to be an American.
]

Dave, no offence is intended here,but, if i lived in a country that recently suffered a huge terrorist incident i wouldnt brag about the fact that terrorists are able to encrypt any information they send over the internet without fear of recrimination.
If you need to encrypt it for fear of Congress or RIAA/MPAA, perhaps its not so wise to be "proud"

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Originally posted by reddevs@7 March 2003 - 19:57
[I read that in England there is legislation (or propoped legislation, I'm not sure which) that states that if you send an encrypted file and refuse to give the government the key, they can give you an automatic 2 year prison sentence. Proud to be an American.
]

Dave, no offence is intended here,but, if i lived in a country that recently suffered a huge terrorist incident i wouldnt brag about the fact that terrorists are able to encrypt any information they send over the internet without fear of recrimination.
If you need to encrypt it for fear of Congress or RIAA/MPAA, perhaps its not so wise to be "proud"

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I fully understand your argument, but I'll put it like this.

Point 1) The terrorists would (and still do) use encryption whether it is illegal or not. Laws don't apply to criminals, only to innocent people. If we were to ban strong crypto just because of the terrorist attack, then we are living in fear, and the terrorists have won.

Point 2) As the saying goes (I believe it was Ben Franklin who said it) "Those who would give up a little freedom for safety deserve neither freedom nor safety".

I prefer freedom. I don't want a group of terrorists telling me I have no right to security.

It is not illegal to use encryption in the UK (AFAIK), but you must hand over the key if the authorities require you to.

I'm pretty sure if someone suspected of terrorism used encryption in the USA, the authorities would also require them to reveal the key (or just braek the encryption themselves). Not really much difference.

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Originally posted by Skillian@7 March 2003 - 20:42
It is not illegal to use encryption in the UK (AFAIK), but you must hand over the key if the authorities require you to.

I'm pretty sure if someone suspected of terrorism used encryption in the USA, the authorities would also require them to reveal the key (or just braek the encryption themselves). Not really much difference.

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What if the terrorists, etc. were using a form of encryption the government couldn't break?

I don't think an unbreakable code exists...

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What if the terrorists, etc. were using a form of encryption the government couldn't break?

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If even one existed, the same would apply in the UK. Just because the authorities can ask them to hand over the key, it doesn't mean they would.

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Originally posted by Ron@7 March 2003 - 21:07
I don't think an unbreakable code exists...

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No "unbreakable" code exists... However, I can tell you that Blowfish hasn't been broken (well, all the security companies in the USA have failed to break it... not certain about the underground military labs...).