Conservative want higher sentences for failure to decrypt child pornography

[Richard Clayton]

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You'll recall a thread in early August about the Conservatives wanting
to up the sentence for failing to decrypt child pornography (despite the
"existing" laws (Part III of RIP) not yet being in force -- you'd think
they'd also be calling for that to be expedited!).

Well, their plans have turned up again in "Protecting the Children (Six
measures to strengthen the law on paedophiles)" which has been put out
by Central Office:

    http://www.conservatives.com/pdf/sexoffenders0902.pdf

<quote>
*   Increased sentences for failure to provide a key to encrypted child
    pornography.

    There is an increasing use of IT and the Internet to store and
    distribute Child Pornography. This, when found, has been used as
    evidence against Paedophiles. Unfortunately cheap encryption
    software is available that the police and the security service have
    not been able to break. The Government recently introduced a legal
    requirement for the key to be provided when requested. Our proposal
    is that the sentence for failure to provide the key where the
    encrypted information is seized under the Child Protection Act
    should match that which the accused would receive if the anticipated
    evidence were revealed.
</quote>

mind you this [and I won't rehash the previous thread] is as nothing to
the rest of the document

*   they want the paedophile "register" to be centralised and made
    available online -- given the public sector's record on such
    projects that should stop it working altogether :-(

*   they not only want an anti-grooming criminal law (hard to write
    without creating a thought-crime) but also a civil anti-grooming
    injunction.

*   they want compulsory use of psychometric tests for those who will
    work in childrens' homes and boarding schools (these are pen and
    paper tests and if you get the answers "wrong" you don't get the
    job) -- they admit that they might exclude people who are not
    paedophiles but "better to be safe than sorry"

*   and last of all they want a task force to look into the feasability
    of "satellite tracking" of paedophiles.

    "The technology now exists and has been used in the US to monitor
    and control the movement of offenders by GPS. This takes the form of
    an ankle bracelet similar to that in use for tagging but with
    transmission of the information via satellite to a laptop computer.
    A complete record will be kept of the movements of an individual and
    access can be gained to check his whereabouts at any time. The
    system can be pre programmed to identify exclusion or inclusion
    areas on a GPS map and if the wearer of the bracelet enters or
    leaves the area an automatic pager message can be sent to alert the
    police and/or him of that fact (to warn him off)."

    love the detail that it's a laptop computer -- bound to work!

So it's all about high tech wizardry and assuming that crimes are
committed by people you've caught once already.  Hmmm

- -- 
richard                                              Richard Clayton

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