At 7:46 AM -0700 on 7/9/99, NewsScan wrote: > U.K. CONSERVATIVE PARTY REJECTS E-COMMERCE BILL > The British Conservative Party says it will block attempts to pass > legislation that would give law enforcement officials and intelligence > agencies access to private encrypted information. In its most controversial > section, the proposed Electronic Communications Act empowers police to seek > jail terms for people at ISPs and telecommunications carriers who decline to > provide them with keys to encrypted files or communications. Opponents say > the bill is both unrealistic and unnecessary. A report released last month > by a Parliamentary Select Committee suggests the Blair government should > "include measures which will promote electronic commerce, rather than > measures discarded from the previous key escrow policy concerned with > controlling, not facilitating, electronic commerce." (TechWeb 9 Jul 99) > http://www.techweb.com/news/story/TWB19990709S0004 ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
