50 characters ? (was RE: Man jailed over computer password refusal

[John Wilson]

On 16 October 2010 18:15, Peter Mitchell <otcbn at callnetuk.com> wrote:
> John Wilson wrote  on 15-10-10 20:00:
>>
>> Are you suggesting that immediately destroy it claim that the Police
>> missed it but that I subsequently destroyed it?
>>
>> If so that seems a rather risky thing to claim. I'd have to explain
>> why I'd destroyed the key and I'm not sure I could do that in a way
>> which would be likely to convince a Jury.
>
> I do not think there is anything in RIPA to stop you saying "I destroyed the
> key because I didn't want the police coming back with a RIPA notice and
> forcing me to disclose my private documents".  There seems to be no
> obligation on a person to preserve his key in anticipation of a notice.
> I suppose the police could argue that destroying it amounted to an attempt
> to pervert the course of justice. But one would hope they would first have
> to prove that some other crime had been committed that the suspect was
> trying to conceal.


Yes that is a good point. I wonder why Mr Drage didn't just claim that
he'd written his 50 character passphrase down and had then destroyed
it?

John Wilson