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Making Encryption A Special Circumstance

Posted by timothy on from the more-numerous-the-laws dept.

heby writes "According to an article at SecurityFocus, the U.S. Justice Department is apparently planning to criminalize encryption when used during the commission of a felony under federal law. If you think you have nothing to worry about, think again. Have you ever filed too many tax deductions? If you use e-file via a web page using SSL for filing your taxes, under this proposal this becomes an additional five-year felony."

1 of 45 comments (clear)

  1. Per the article by Catilina · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Per the article: "This new proposal, unrelated to terrorism, is merely a tool to enhance penalties for ordinary crimes, and should be rejected."

    One can only assume this legislative proposal will indeed not be implemented in its current form, given the obvious pitfalls, examples of which can be found in the article. Nevertheless, it seems like a step back to the pre-2000 way of thinking, that considered encryption to be a form of ammunition.