Silicon.com: ISPs escape crippling costs of anti-terrorism law

[Owen Blacker]

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> HEADLINE: ISPs escape crippling costs of anti-terrorism law
> PUBLISHED: 9:35am on Friday 26th October 2001
> CHANNEL: ISPs
> AUTHOR: Sally Watson
> SERVICE: http://www.silicon.com
> 
> TEXT OF STORY FOLLOWS:
> 
> May only be a temporary reprieve though...
> 
> ISPs and telcos could avoid bearing the brunt of the costs 
> associated with the latest anti-terrorism legislation 
> following high-level government meetings this week.
> 
> A team of senior civil servants met with industry officials 
> on Wednesday to try to allay ISPs' concerns over the 
> government's proposed cyber-terrorism legislation.
> 
> Home Office proposals to allow terrorist activity to be 
> tracked on email, phone and the web have alarmed service 
> providers and users.
> 
> With rumours circulating that the anti-terrorism Bill will 
> include a requirement for all communications data to be 
> stored for 12 months, a joint meeting held by officials from 
> the DTI and Home Office insisted the scheme would remain optional.
> 
> A spokesman for the DTI told silicon.com: "This is a 
> voluntary code of practice. We don't intend imposing a 
> mandatory requirement on service providers."
> 
> The code of practice is still unformed, but it will include 
> details of the types of data which should be retained, how 
> long it should be held and what kind of access can be 
> obtained by law enforcement authorities.
> 
> Despite assurances, most industry representatives remain 
> unconvinced by the proposals.
>  
> The biggest worry for service providers is that unlike the 
> Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which gave 
> authorities the power to demand data on named individuals, 
> the new terrorism Bill will require the blanket retention of 
> communications data on every user for up to 12 months.
> 
> Roland Perry, director of public policy at the London 
> Internet Exchange, said government officials at the meeting 
> were keen to stress that the changes wouldn't dramatically 
> affect ISPs and telcos. 
> 
> "They don't want companies to have to put in place new 
> architectural processes," he said.
> 
> The cost of storing the data is likely to be dwarfed by the 
> expense of drawing out relevant information from the morass. 
> Although compensation was mentioned during the meeting, 
> government officials refused to be drawn.
> 
> The CBI still has a number of concerns, including whether 
> service providers will really be given the option not to 
> comply with the code. 
> 
> "We welcome the voluntary code of practice," a spokesman 
> said. "But in reality what sort of pressures will be applied 
> to make sure the industry complies?
> 
> "The industry wants to help in the fight against terrorism, 
> but we're not entirely convinced this is going to provide a 
> significant contribution."
> 
> More industry meetings are planned over the next month as the 
> Home Office draws up the anti-terrorism Bill.
> 
> For related news, see:
> Anti-terrorist laws call for a record of all email and web use
> http://www.silicon.com/a48309
> European parliament slams 'data fishing'
> http://www.silicon.com/a45707
> Accused: UK behind push for new snooping rights
> http://www.silicon.com/a45415
> 
> 
> STORY ENDS
> 
> For more information on silicon.com go to http://www.silicon.com.
> 
> silicon.com - the who, what, when, where and why of ebusiness

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