Despite urgent protests from business and libertarian groups, for once clearly sharing a common cause, the British Government has forced through its menacing Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill, which is now law.
The Bill began its life hiding within the UK's ecommerce-enabling e-signature legislation. When an immediate outcry showed the Government that Home Office (Interior Ministry) demands for security measures would compromise the progress of the DTI's pro-ecommerce bill, the contentious parts were separated off, and only after the main e-commerce bill had successfully passed through the legislative process was the nasty bit re-presented to Parliament.
The unfortunately-titled RIP Bill has had a stormy passage through Parliament, with many amendments being forced on the Government. Its many enemies say that they all they have succeeded in doing is to make a bad bill less bad.
The result is certainly very bad. It is perhaps not much worse than the US's Carnivore snooping program, but the crassness displayed by the UK Government, and its almost wilful refusal to understand the realities of the new economy, act as an awful warning to anyone planning to conduct e-commerce through a British ISP.
The legislation requires that a British ISP (or other entity transmitting e-traffic) must instal a 'black box' on demand from the Government, which will monitor and record details of traffic. Originally the bill required that the ISP be able to provide a key to any encrypted traffic, on demand, but the final wording only requires that the originator of encrypted traffic should provide a key to messages, or a plain-text version of them, if required. Under the equivalent US legislation a court order is needed first, but in the UK the originator cannot stop the Government; he can only argue the issue afterwards in Court, where the Government will have to prove that the originator did not comply with the law. The original drafting put the onus on the originator to prove that he could not supply the key. The penalty for non-compliance is two years in gaol.
It is early to be sure about the consequences of the RIP bill, but it is hard to see how it squares with the professed eagerness of the UK Government to encourage the development of e-commerce. Tony Blair has frequently said that he wants the UK to lead the world in e-commerce - does he realise what has been done to his dream?
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