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UK anti-encryption law

falkvinge.net

191–198 of 198 posts

Re: UK anti-encryption law

#191
post #142

His argument is: 1) They can lock you up for refusing to decrypt something. 2) Encrypted data looks exactly like random noise. 3) Encrypted data can be hidden in any file. 4) Therefore, they can allege that nearly anything is encrypted and lock you up on that basis. I'd say that's terrifying. Another thought: doesn't this make it possible to frame someone by writing random data to their hard drive?

My dark side is thinking of a virus, let's call it YouGoToJail, that encrypts a file (say with gunpg - 4mb and works on all OSes) with a random very long password. The virus then deletes all traces to itself. You go to jail!

And just before it deletes itself it posts threatening messages via your twitter and facebook account, designed to trigger the automated systems presumably watching these, thereby triggering an investigation into your affairs.

YouGoToJail indeed.

Re: UK anti-encryption law

#194
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uk Judges are separate from the govenment. In the UK, the term "government" refers to the executive branch. Outside that use, it encompasses the legislative, executive and judiciary power of a state. Wikipedia gives the following definition: Government consists of the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and the system by which they are or…

No Judges are part of the "establishment" not the "govenment" ask Tony or Dave about the judges who ruled against them over a large number of issues. I dubt wikipedia edited by a large number of Non UK People woud get the subtle destiction I am making here.

The term "government" has multiple meanings, but the most direct and common meaning is for the entire apparatus of state power, literally "the instrument which governs". This is true in all places that speak English, the United Kingdom included.

In the United States, we use the term "administration" to refer to an executive, his cabinet, and other associated officials. However, we still recognize the (not-so-subtle) distinction between the administration and the government as a whole; our government, as yours, is divided into three separate branches, and then again into many departments, agencies, committees, circuits, districts, and other subdivisions thereof.

Re: UK anti-encryption law

#195
This makes me wonder why Brits prefer to courageously make jokes at Putin's regime (with which I'm fine, they're deserved), instead of just going to the Big Ben palace and giving a boot to the same kind of governors sitting there.

Re: UK anti-encryption law

#196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No Judges are part of the "establishment" not the "govenment" ask Tony or Dave about the judges who ruled against them over a large number of issues. I dubt wikipedia edited by a large number of Non UK People woud get the subtle destiction I am making here.

The term "government" has multiple meanings, but the most direct and common meaning is for the entire apparatus of state power, literally "the instrument which governs". This is true in all places that speak English, the United Kingdom included. In the United States, we use the term "administration" to refer to an executive, his cabinet, and other associated officials. However, we still recognize the (not-so-subtle)…

Err the UK does not have a tripartate separation - there is a world out side of SV and the USA

Re: UK anti-encryption law

#197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The term "government" has multiple meanings, but the most direct and common meaning is for the entire apparatus of state power, literally "the instrument which governs". This is true in all places that speak English, the United Kingdom included. In the United States, we use the term "administration" to refer to an executive, his cabinet, and other associated officials. However, we still recognize the (not-so-subtle)…

Err the UK does not have a tripartate separation - there is a world out side of SV and the USA

The UK seems to have more crossover between legislative and executive functions, but the separation does exist, more or less. Parliament makes the laws. Various ministers execute the laws. The courts interpret the laws.

Re: UK anti-encryption law

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The term "government" has multiple meanings, but the most direct and common meaning is for the entire apparatus of state power, literally "the instrument which governs". This is true in all places that speak English, the United Kingdom included. In the United States, we use the term "administration" to refer to an executive, his cabinet, and other associated officials. However, we still recognize the (not-so-subtle)…

Err the UK does not have a tripartate separation - there is a world out side of SV and the USA

SV = El Salvador? South Vietnam?

I suppose you mean Silicon Valley, but I live on the East Coast (~3000 miles away). Also, our "tripartite separation" is based on yours, with the President taking the place of the Monarch/Prime Minister, the Congress taking the place of Parliament, and the Judiciary being roughly the same (we even use the same style of law, called common law, whereas most non-English-speaking countries use civil law).

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