French Bill Carries 5-Year Jail Sentence For Company Refusals To Decrypt Data For Police (dailydot.com)

Patrick O'Neill writes: Employees of companies in France that refuse to decrypt data for police can go to prison for five years under new legislation from conservative legislators, Agence France-Presse reports. The punishment for refusing to hand over access to encrypted data is a five year jail sentence and $380,000 fine. Telecom companies would face their own penalties, including up to two years in jail. M. Pierre Lellouche, a French Republican, singled out American encryption in particular. "They deliberately use the argument of public freedoms to make money knowing full well that the encryption used to drug traffickers, to serious [criminals] and especially to terrorists. It is unacceptable that the state loses any control over encryption and, in fact, be the subject of manipulation by U.S. multinationals."

Comments

No. 1 problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Well the primary problem with this is how are they going to put a company in prison for two years?

Re:No. 1 problem

[Tablizer]

Are you saying corporations are NOT people? Blasphemy!
- Mitt

Re:No. 1 problem

[Sperbels]

They'll hire someone to serve the time for them.

Re:No. 1 problem

[stealth_finger]

I'm just waiting for the long line of snooty Europeans to tell me that this proves that Europe cares about privacy, and Americans have no rights.

It does because reasons.

So just hand them encrypted data

[ArmoredDragon]

If they want access to encrypted data, just give it to them. If they need it decrypted, that's their problem.

Re:How do you put a corporation in jail?

[Tablizer]

Who exactly goes to jail? The CEO? The CTO? The employees who supposedly know how to decrypt the data?

Jail em all and let God sort it out

Re:How do you put a corporation in jail?

[93 Escort Wagon]

March 3, 2015 (Reuters) - The French Assemblée Nationale today issued instructions to Juge D'Instruction Claude d'Monet, ordering that he determine the being or beings responsible for the existence of the mathematics of encryption.

d'Monet subsequently issued a Warrant and Order to Appear to God, declaring that failure to appear by the 15th of March would result in a summary declaration of contempt, an order for His arrest, and possible forfeiture of the universe.

Police have attempted to serve this warrant at the Notre-Dame de Paris several times, but without success.

Re:How do you put a corporation in jail?

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, France must be an awesome place to live. Their strict gun control guarantees that nobody ever gets shot there, and now this law will guarantee that they will be safe from terrorists and drug traffickers too!

And obviously their government is benevolent and never abuses its power.

I am so moving there.