Other jurisdictions

[Mats Bergstrom <matsb@sos.sll.se>]

Duncan Frissell wrote:

> It would be interesting for those in other jurisdictions to comment about
> how *their* rulers might view anonymous communications and strong crypto.

In Sweden there has been no public discussion at all. Well, there was a TV
news item a month ago about GSM (not how this, compared to older in-the-clear
protocols, could strengthen privacy - of course - but how GSM could be used
by Terrorists and Drug Dealers). A representative of a leading Swedish GSM
provider was interviewed; he said that there was no tapping abilities built
into their system but that it would cost a mere $1.000.000 in software
development to fix it (and obviously, if legislation a la DTB would be
forthcoming, he would happily implement it - if someone else paid the bill).

My general impression is that a semi-secret committee is following the
situation in the US very closely. If GAK comes true over at your side
of the Atlantic we would probably follow in a year or so.

Then there is the tragedy of the European Community. Sweden might very
well join next year, depending on the outcome of a referendum due in
two months. And the leading politruks will not take a no for a no but
pull some tricks and offer new referendums until they get what they
want - more personal power and fat-paying seats in Brussels - like they
did in Denmark - and the propaganda, paid for by the government, in favor
of joining the United States of Europe is so strong that we might vote
yes in the first place (a stable majority against joining seems to be
declining rapidly). The rectification of Europe is against everything
a crypto anarchist stands for: French-style bureaucracy, German-style
standardization, a huge increase in the number of laws and regulations
(down to the shapes of cucumbers and %meat in sausages) - and loss of
opportunities for the politically uncorrect to hide in other juris-
dictions. If Sweden falls, so does Finland for sure, and possibly
Norway.

So in a few years the legitimacy of anon.penet.fi might very well be
decided by the huge cancer-bureaucracy in Brussels.

As for the present legal situation in Sweden - nobody seems to know.
The only net.lawyer I ever heard of here is working for the SPA. The
few computer related trials have dealt with software piracy. Oh, years
ago a Fido BBS user (message-writer) was fined for degrading remarks on
some minority - we have laws against group-libel. The most obvious
change regarding privacy if we join the EC will be the status of 'public'
information. In Sweden every citizen has a right to know all information,
about anybody, stored in most national and other public registers. This
is not so in EC. Some say that the EC way gives more privacy. I say (I
think...) that as long as the stored information is public the politruks
dare not make the registered information too detailed or otherwise
offensive.

Mats