Outlawing Encryption Under Patriot Ii

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Among other nasty things, the US government is trying to make the use of encryption while committing a crime over a computer a new crime that would add 5 years onto your sentence, if convicted.

“If you order a book from Amazon.com and fail to pay state tax, the SSL session with Amazon supports a five year felony. [RFF - I’d also include using GSM cell phones with the built-in encryption…]”

The ACLU has a section-by-section analysis for the full dose of insanity.

[IP] Outlawing Encryption under PATRIOT II

Several members of congress have sent an open letter to John Ashcroft chiding him for the administration’s handling of PATRIOT II. The Justice Department is being very secretive about this new act, even lying to congress about its existence even though it has been leaked on the Internet.

From the FoxNews story:

“If there’s going to be a sequel let’s find out what it’s going to be” before reading about it in the newspapers, Leahy said, accusing the Justice Department of lying to his staff about whether a new bill was in the works.