Mastering the Internet

[Ian Batten]

>
> But unlike alcohol, it is also illegal simply to make content  
> available, as stated in ss.2(2)(a).

But from a practical point of view, this is difficult, and the law  
(contrary to the belief of engineers on t'Internet) tends to favour  
practicality over hair-splitting.

Consider the case of the targeted, warranted interception of a single  
named individual.  This would most likely be done by taking a feed out  
of a roughly adjacent switch, and supplying it unmediated to a Black  
Box which extracts the content for which the warrant has been issued.   
I doubt many of us would have a problem with that process, unless we  
want to argue that no one should have their communications intercepted  
ever.

But by your reading that's illegal: everyone whose traffic wasn't on  
the warrant is being intercepted (and not just by `making available':  
it's being fed into the box that does the targeting).

What's your alternative?  That every ISP should have DPI-capable  
inspection gear throughout its network, and be given the raw targeting  
information?  Fine: hands up all the ISPs which want to maintain a  
full intercept capability plus the staff and processes to handle the  
targeting list, which will be HMG SECRET at least.

ian