News: MP to launch RIP Bill inquiry

[Yaman Akdeniz]

Liesbeth Evers, Network News  [28 Jun 2000]
MP to launch RIP Bill inquiry 
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1105020

The chairman of a cross-party information select committee is 
launching a parliamentary inquiry into the technical weaknesses of the 
Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill. 
It has been revealed that the Bill could be successfully evaded using 
basic network technology that has been available since 1976. 

Liberal Democrat MP Richard Allan, who is chairman of the 
parliamentary select committee, was startled by the revelations and 
said it had not been clear enough to those fighting the Bill that this 
technology made RIP practically useless.

He said it only made sense to establish RIP if it could be enforced. "I 
warned the minister in committee that the Bill would not achieve the 
government's objectives because alternative technology would 
provide ways of working round it," said Allan. "We are now seeing 
the proof of that in the evidence being put forward by the industry of 
technologies that will render the Bill ineffective." 

He added that he intends to send a letter to Home Office minister Charles Clark to point out that there are indeed severe technical problems with the Bill. "I will challenge the Home Office to respond by sending them deta
ils of the evidence and asking them to confirm whether or not they 
believe their legislation will be effective in these circumstances," he 
said.

The network technology that challenges the effectiveness of the Bill 
consists of the combined use of the steganographic file system, which 
hides stored files, and the Diffie-Hellman key exchange that sends 
encrypted data with vanishing codes over a normal telephone line. 
Together, they make it virtually impossible to trace or intercept data 
messages.

To tackle some of these issues, the government would have to include 
ordinary carrier transmissions in the scope of the Bill and outlaw 
steganographic systems, which is practically impossible.

First published in Network News 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Yaman Akdeniz,
Director, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK)
URL: http://www.cyber-rights.org
E-mail: lawya@cyber-rights.org
Tel: +44 (0)498 865116

Read the CR&CL (UK) Reports at:
http://www.cyber-rights.org/reports/ 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~