Cork Soaker wrote:
>
> "peterwn" wrote in message
> news:b60f1f61-c19b-4cfd-9c65-4f0ddca937a7@h1g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
> : On May 17, 10:10 am, "Cork Soaker"
> : wrote:
> : > http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
> : >
> : > "LEGAL WARNING: Use of PuTTY, PSCP, PSFTP and Plink is illegal in
> countries
> : > where encryption is outlawed. I believe it is legal to use PuTTY, PSCP,
> : > PSFTP and Plink in England and Wales and in many other countries, but I
> am
> : > not a lawyer and so if in doubt you should seek legal advice before
> : > downloading it."
> : >
> : > This can't be correct can it? Colleges and universities offer SSH
> access
> : > for their students...
> :
> : The authorities seem to have given up on restricting encryption
> : methods. In any event, the average computer user is virtually an
> : unwitting party to strong encryption systems when doing internet
> : banking etc, this being essential for security reasons. The French I
> : think has laws covering allowable strength of encryption systems, with
> : MS Office sold in France having a dumbed down encryption algorithm.
> :
> : The legal requirement is to yield the keys on demand with serious
> : criminal penalties for failing to do so (in any case higher courts
> : have probably always been able to ask for this as part of their
> : inherent jurisdiction).
>
> Thanks for the reply.
>
> I thought I heard something about this years ago, but as you say, they seem
> to have given up.
>
> I can *maybe* understand why the authorities would need access to certain
> encrypted streams, although I personally think they have no bloody right and
> should FOAD (but I won't get into that discussion).
>
> With the exception of giving law enforcement the encryption keys, it
> certainly is not in their interest for people to be using weak encryption,
> like you said about internet banking, the stronger the encryption, the
> better it is for everyone!
I probably use encryption for internet transaction, but I have no idea of the
keys or where to find them. BTW I heard that one of the reason for the 42
days detention without charge was that terrorists might hide messages in DVD
movies. Hence officers have to watch through all the movies found on a PC. |