PGP Ruled as Relevant For Criminal Case

waytoomuchcoffee writes "A Minnesota appeals unamimously ruled in a child porn case that "the existence of an encryption program" on the defendants computer could be admitted as evidence of criminal intent. The article doesn't mention if this can be taken into account for sentencing too."

Comments

Re:Encryption use != evil

[fyngyrz]

Next, we'll have the Librarian's law, where owners of bookshelves are registered for life on state websites. Oh, wait, we'll need a federal registry, too.

If the state can't prove this fellow had or produced child porn without referring to the simple fact that he has encryption software, the state has no business bothering him, in my estimation.

Encryption tools shouldn't be admitted as evidence of intent to commit a crime in any way, shape or form. Any more than owning fast shoes (sneakers) is a crime, even though you were walking in sneakers when you held up the bank.

The crime here is (should be) abusing the trust and/or corpus of an individual the state asserts is unable to manage their own sexuality (and the state should probably have to prove that, too.)

Anything beyond that is legal sophistry at best, and clueless babbling of a legal system completely out of control at worst.

Just because it is law, doesn't mean it isn't stupid. Quite the contrary.