RIPA and file-sharing??

[Peter Fairbrother]

Watkin Simon wrote:
> PlusNet wrote:
> 
> "Amongst its powers under RIPA, the High Court can request from an ISP
> details about particular customers."
> 
>> Peter Sommer wrote:
>>
>> I don't think it's RIPA;  the powers probably exist under the disclosure
>> rules which are part of Civil and Criminal Procedure
> 
> It is most definitely not RIPA.
> 
> Whilst we're on the subject, some of the requirements that are being imposed
> by Court Order upon ISPs to disclose the allocation of IP addresses in civil
> law cases are out stripping and taking precedence over those being imposed
> under RIPA. 
> 
> In some instances the assistance an ISP is able to give to the police and
> the security service to prevent and detect crime and to protect life
> effectively has to grind to a halt in order for the ISP to deal with a
> digital rights dispute.
> 
> That's because failing to deal with a Court Order is a contempt of Court.
> Failing to deal with a RIPA notice isn't - it wasn't designed to be.  By
> requiring disclosure it was designed so the CSP no longer had to make the
> decision to disclose data as happened pre-RIPA under the DPA.  (The
> Secretary of State could take a CSP to Court for failing to comply with a
> RIPA notice.  That hasn't happened and we wouldn't wish it to happen.)   

Hah!

Do you now wish that RIPA Part IIa demands, or at least the most urgent 
and intrusive ones, were issued by Courts?

(I never have objected, much, to senior Plod issuing RDQ demands)

-- Peter Fairbrother