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South African Gov And ECT Bill
GothicManSlut writes "South Africa's ITWeb(http://www.itweb.co.za) has released this article (http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2002/020 8011154.asp?O=FPT) in regards to the controversial ECT Bill being passed now as law. This is sure to provoke the industry in South Africa as it expects the public
to hand over all cryptography keys the SA public
has just to name a few of the problems with it. I wonder who will actually obide to these laws."
...the mandatory use of IPv6 by all ISPs with each individual assigned an IP number at birth which will be theirs for life. This, combined with mandatory MAC address registration/matching with IP numbers will be the end of anonymity on the web. Before you can gain access, you must first identify yourself.
You may think it absurd, but this (or something to the same effect) is more likely than not. I remember the end of the BBS days when the ACs were screened out by most SysOps via mandatory IDing of the user before an account was allowed on the systems. This due to rampant abuse by ACs and the coming of the concept of legal accountability to those running the systems.
I have mixed feelings in that I'm not sure if it's good or bad as there are good arguments on both sides. Guess we'll get to watch it play out in time.
Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
It's a shame that these initiatives all ssem to be so narrow minded.
Even when they're actually good ideas (I'm not claiming that this is a good idea!) they're implemented on a country-by-country basis and so their use to the global Internet community is severely limited.
I didn't see anything that required the end users of the net in SA to register themselves though - just the providers of cryptographical solutions - so I think we're safe from complete user control for a few more months...
Better the pride that resides in a Citizen of the world, than the pride that divides when a colourful rag is unfurled
but the most disturbing thing? The name of the guy who submitted the article. I don't know if I want to see "GothicManSlut" anywhere on the front page of Slashdot.
Anybody know what happened with the guy who had been running the .za domain?
Last I'd heard he'd moved the servers that controlled it out of South Africa for when this bill went through.
Dark Nexus
"Sanity is calming, but madness is more interesting."
Frankly, I'd be very happy if public key encryption became standard, and there were government-registered companies to certify people's public keys. How do you know that this key purportedly from John Smith is really from John Smith? Why not welcome the government's seal of approval that the company verifying John Smith's identity isn't "Fly-By-Night Enterprises"? Or are you happy trusting Microsoft to verify this stuff for you?
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
If there's something else nefarious going on here, could someone explain?
I think this bill does contain the new .za domain control legislation, so that part may be iffy (I don't know), but that's nothing like the UK RIP-like encryption fascism described in the submitter's posting.
There's a possibly interesting pattern developing here: some of the most technologically advanced nations, arguably having the most to lose from preceived "abuses" of technology, are attempting to control development with unreasonably strict laws: DMCA, RIP, and whatever's going on in Australia with e.g. net filtering and the like. Meanwhile, some developing nations have a double incentive to be less restrictive and more open to "subversive" technological innovation: they're not dependent on revenue from the existing hi-tech industry, and they may see an opportunity to leapfrog some of their more advanced competitor nations. Perhaps this is how Western global economic and dominance will end, as short-sighted politicians try to ban innovation in genetic research, encryption, digital cash, and other promising areas...
They'll get my crypt-keys when they pry them out of my cold dead...
Sorry, wrong bandwagon.
Someone hates these cans.
I've read this petition (as well as the of some of the problems with the bill). It mainly talks about Accreditation authority restrictions. It does not say ANYTHING about handing over private keys.
:)
I'll still have my private key and privately encrypted messages (but they won't be legally recognised). These will be as safe and ans private as a locked box was and still is. (The law about this is still the same to promote general anti-crime sentiments.
Finally I may be able to send electronically signed letters to my bank! Faxes are SOOOO outdated.
I have also read most of the bill itself and note that there are (still) some things that need to be scraped or wiped before we come into alignment with european standards.