http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34350,00.html
Irish, UK Crypto Regs Far Apart
by Karlin Lillington ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
3:00 a.m. 16.Feb.2000 PST
DUBLIN, Ireland -- Britain is likely to
become the first country in the world to
make imprisonment a possible
consequence of refusing to surrender, or
even losing, one's private encryption
keys.
At the same time, neighboring Ireland is
preparing legislation that would make it
the first country to prohibit law
enforcement from forcing encryption
users to hand over their private keys.
The new British law also would compel
Internet service providers to build in
"reasonable interception capabilities" to
networks and could force ISPs to hand
over data traffic information -- email
destinations, Web site visits, IP names --
to law enforcement without a search
warrant. It includes provisions for
listening in on mobile and satellite phone
calls, intercepting pager messages, and
bugging office switchboards.
The topsy-turvy state of affairs is
emblematic of the approach of the two
countries to electronic commerce
legislation.
...
