CR&CL(UK) letter to the House of Lords concerning the RIP Bill

[Yaman Akdeniz]

Press Release - 27 June, 2000 Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK)  

LEEDS - Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) today sent an open letter 
to members of the House of Lords in relation to the Regulation of 
Investigatory Powers (“RIP”) Bill. The six page letter expressed 
concerns of the CR&CL(UK) Board members that the proposed Bill will 
not achieve the desired result. Indeed, it is our carefully 
considered opinion that a number of provisions will have the opposite 
effect and will bring aspects of UK law into direct conflict with the 
European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”).  

The letter further explains that CR&CL(UK) does not believe that the 
proposed measures will provide an effective way of dealing with 
criminal misuse of the Internet but will instead have a detrimental 
impact on the perceived safety, security and privacy of UK citizens 
and businesses in Internet use. “This, in turn, will have a highly 
detrimental impact on the development of electronic commerce in the 
UK.”  

The concerns raised in the CR&CL(UK) letter to the House of Lords is 
for the most part, confined to those raised by Part III dealing with 
the seizure of encryption keys.  

“It is our considered opinion that the powers for key seizure and 
Internet interception in this legislation fail every one of the 
CR&CL(UK) tests (that is spelled out in the letter) and also fail the 
Cabinet Office Regulatory Impact Unit’s principles of good 
regulation.”  

The letter concludes urging the House of Lords to reject this 
legislation and to seek major changes in the Government strategy for 
countering criminal misuse of the Internet.  

Mr. Yaman Akdeniz, Director of Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) 
said: “In the absence of widespread public support for the Bill, and 
with strong criticism from both the civil liberties organisations and 
the industry, the government should reconsider the content of the 
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill. House of Lords should not 
support such proposals, which we believe would be a serious 
curtailment of important and well-established civil rights.”  

Dr. Brian Gladman, Technology Policy Advisor, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-
Liberties (UK) said: “The technical proposals that underpin this 
legislation will be ineffective against criminals but very costly for 
both taxpayers and Internet Service Providers; there are more 
effective and much less costly ways of countering criminal misuse of 
the Internet.”  

Mr. Nicholas Bohm, E-Commerce Policy Adviser, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-
Liberties (UK) said: “The damage that the Regulation of Investigatory 
Powers Bill will do to electronic commerce will also hinder the 
development of the wider social benefits flowing from the Information 
Society.”  

Press Information: 
The Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) letter to the House of Lords 
is available through http://www.cyber-rights.org/reports/hl-lett.htm  

This press release is at http://www.cyber-rights.org/press/  

Contact Information:

Mr. Yaman Akdeniz, Director of Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK), 
CyberLaw Research Unit, Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, 
University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, Tel: +44 (0) 498 865116, Fax: 
+44 (0) 7092199011 E-mail: lawya@cyber-rights.org  

Dr. Brian Gladman, Technology Policy Advisor, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-
Liberties (UK) Worcester, UK E-mail: brg@cyber-rights.org  

Mr. Nicholas Bohm, E-Commerce Policy Adviser, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-
Liberties (UK); Member of the Law Society’s Working Party on 
Electronic Commerce Salkyns, Great Canfield, Takeley, Bishop’s 
Stortford CM22 6SX, Tel: +44 (0) 1279 871272, Fax: +44 (0) 1279 
870215 E-mail: nbohm@cyber-rights.org