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British Teen Jailed Over Encryption Password

An anonymous reader writes "Oliver Drage, 19, of Liverpool has been convicted of 'failing to disclose an encryption key,' which is an offense under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and as a result has been jailed for 16 weeks. Police seized his computer but could not get past the 50-character encrypted password that he refused to give up. And just to get it out of the way, obligatory XKCD."

29 of 1,155 comments (clear)

  1. Just Awesome by Xeleema · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pfft, Britan. Glad my ancestors were smart enough to split that dive and setup someplace safe for me to live....

    --
    "When I am king, you will be first against the wall..."
    1. Re:Just Awesome by pipedwho · · Score: 4, Funny

      Where did they go? Sweden?

    2. Re:Just Awesome by amicusNYCL · · Score: 4, Funny

      Pfft, Britan. Glad my ancestors were smart enough

      If only they were smart enough to teach you how to spell "Britain".

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    3. Re:Just Awesome by painandgreed · · Score: 3, Funny

      UK is easier to spell, anyway.

      It doesn't matter. Most of us are just going to pronounce it 'England' anyway.

  2. Post needs editing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "xkcd", not "XKCD". We really don't need to shout the comic name.

    1. Re:Post needs editing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      REMEMBER, in the intertubes, no one can hear you shout unless you use ALL CAPS.

      REMEMBER, ALL CAPS.

      GOT IT. THANKS.

    2. Re:Post needs editing by Yvan256 · · Score: 2, Funny

      My ears! The goggles do nothing!

    3. Re:Post needs editing by modmans2ndcoming · · Score: 2, Funny

      please stop... since caps are larger, they will fill up the tubes faster.

  3. But it's hard to remember... by txoof · · Score: 4, Funny

    But it's hard to remember all those special characters after they beat you with a wrench. Be sure to choose a password that's easy to remember under bludgeoning to limit the number of times they have to hit you in the head.

    --
    This one's tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen... --Hobbes
    1. Re:But it's hard to remember... by blair1q · · Score: 3, Funny

      mod this +1 nefarious

    2. Re:But it's hard to remember... by causality · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm more afraid of the people finding it "Informative". In my mind's eye I'm seeing the CIA taking careful notes while reading /.

      It'd be more like the CIA wondering what took Slashdot so long to figure that out.

      --
      It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
    3. Re:But it's hard to remember... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Many of the rights in the Bill of Rights (and the main body of the Constitution) are there as a response to British wrongs.

      There are things in the Bill of Rights about bad cuisine?

  4. What is he hiding? by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder what he is hiding.

    1. Re:What is he hiding? by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

      His encryption password, obviously.

    2. Re:What is he hiding? by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1, Funny

      Furry Pron!!

    3. Re:What is he hiding? by arth1 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ah, so you've been to Liverpool too?

  5. Re:Obligatory XKCD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    i know this is slashdot, and we dont RTFS, but come on!

  6. Well no. by Colin+Smith · · Score: 3, Funny

    DUH. Obviously he's a terrorist.

     

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    Deleted
  7. Re:right to not incriminate yourself? by Derekloffin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nope, and even in the US this has been contentious in the courts (not sure on the current status). Basically, the logic goes that the encryption is like a lock when a search warrant is issued. If a search warrant is issued, you have to provide access, and you can potentially get in legal hot water if you don't cooperate with the warrant. It isn't considered self incrimination.

  8. Re:Just give them something? by Facegarden · · Score: 2, Funny

    Could he have given them a random password, and then act dumbfounded when it does not work?
    Maybe even accuse them of breaking his system?

    It is hard to prove that the header of an encrypted disk has not been corrrupted.

    Would that work with the current law? Has anyone already tried it?

    I wonder if it works the other way around? When they take my un-encrypted system, I'll claim it is in fact encrypted, and all the apparent data on the disk is just random garbage that happens to look like a windows 7 file system full of furry midget porn. I'll provide them with the 'real' encryption key and they'll see that all I was keeping on the disk was random garbage data.
    -Taylor

    --
    Worldwide Military budgets: $2100 billion. Worldwide Space Exploration budgets: $38 billion. Really, world? Really?
  9. Re:right to not incriminate yourself? by RaymondKurzweil · · Score: 4, Funny

    He would have died eventually in any case though, I suspect.

  10. Re:Annex Britain by Calydor · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wait, I thought the US of A were fighting -for- royalties?

    --
    -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
  11. Re:downloaded music? games? movies? software? by Rockoon · · Score: 2, Funny

    Tranny Midget Porn with Power Tools. I think that I'd gladly do a few months in prison rather than admit to that... not that I am into that.. that is to say, I came up with that at random... yeah.. at random.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  12. Re:Only 16 weeks? by Joe+Snipe · · Score: 4, Funny

    You know you want to.

      +1 inciteful

    --
    Sometimes, life itself is sarcasm...
  13. Re:Just give them something? by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 2, Funny

    wiping the disk is foolish; anyone who would dare try to break a disk would have a bit-image copy of it saved away FIRST. you know, "dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/nsa". like that.

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  14. Re:Different in the USA? by z0idberg · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think I'll make my passphrase "I don't remember". That should make for a fun interview.

  15. Re:Also as a practical matter by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 4, Funny

    (like the Great Australian Firewall)

    I prefer Great Barrier Router of Australia, personally.

  16. Re:Also as a practical matter by Grishnakh · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm not so sure about this. I seriously doubt many Republicans (male ones anyway) frequent (female) hookers. Male hookers, sure; Republicans seem to have a thing for being gays in denial. But they seem to prefer getting it from strangers in public restrooms, rather than paying for it.

    The Democrats are probably much more active in frequenting female hookers. They seem to like to cheat on their wives a lot. But they seem more likely to spend a little money on their sexcapades, instead of looking for free sex from strangers with unknown diseases.

    Now, if you're wondering which politicians are mostly honest, and don't cheat on their spouses or partners, I think the answer is none. There's definitely none who are honest about wanting to actually help the country.

  17. Re:Yes, different in the USA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've heard people say that commodore64_love strangles kittens while masturbating.

    Don't knock it until you've tried it.