Most people have tried to respond to this question based on the legal maxim - Stare Decisis. Which means "to stand by things decided" or in other words "yesterday's decision shall govern today's decisions".
However this particular case has no precedence. People are divided in two camps. One sees the password as a physical key that must be handed to authority when ordered by the court. The other sees the encryption as a part of a person's memory, divulging of which would constitute self-incrimination. The law doesn't reward creativity. It rewards logic and experience [1]. However, people being of creative nature have tried to classify a "password" as a physical key or a part of memory. It is neither. So I would like to suggest that new laws be proposed that have their basis in logic rather than emotions. 1) Gerald Lebovits, Legal-Writing Myths—Part I, N.Y. State B.J. 55, 57 (Feb. 2006). _______________________________________________ FDE mailing list [email protected] http://www.xml-dev.com/mailman/listinfo/fde
