Programmer Faces Terror Charge:

[Quentin Campbell]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David_Biggins@usermgmt.com [mailto:David_Biggins@usermgmt.com]=20
> Sent: 23 September 2002 10:08
> To: ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk
> Subject: RE: Programmer Faces Terror Charge:
>=20
[snip]
> Given the relatively broad phrasing of the act,  and the
> long-acknowledged inclusion of crypto as a munition,  it is=20
> arguable that
> all those of us studying crypto and crypto policy to any extent are
> likely to risk falling into the category of  "Possessing information
> likely to be useful to a terrorist".
>=20
> And those of us who do so outside the confines of a=20
> university or major
> corporate possibly carry an even greater possibility of such an act
> being abused.

Phew! That is alright then because I work in a university.=20

But I also happen to live on a farm. You don't have to look far to
realise most farms are potential bomb making factories. In my case there
is a well equipped farm workshop and plenty of scrap around to fabricate
a bomb container. There are bags of fertiliser and tanks of diesel to
make the explosive. There are shotgun cartridges and chemicals to make a
detonating device and accelerant.

I also have a junk box full of electronic components including counter
chips and circuit boards and a soldering iron and multimeter in my
shack.

What I lack, of course, is any intent and any bomb making skills and
there is an innocent and banal explanation for the presence of all this
potential bomb making equipment.

Would that stop over-enthusiastic or malicious authorities acting on
"information received"? The headlines would be lurid and the
consequences pretty traumatic and it is little comfort that the CPS
would have to authorise a prosecution after the event.=20

As a response to the implied question in David Biggins's posting above I
would observe that, in the "hunting with hounds" area in which I live
and following recent events, the police and other LEAs should be less
interested in those dabbling in crypto policy and rather more concerned
about the activities and threats of the extremist fringe of the
pro-hunting lobby.=20

Quentin