Posted by casey at May 25th, 2005

Why is it that it always seems like the world is going two steps forward one step back? Ok. I’ll just lay it out… ignorant people should not be allowed to “judge” things they do not have the slightest clue about.

For anyone that does not already know, PGP is used for encryption of many things, including but definitely not limited to, sensitive financial data, medical records, diaries, and email. It also can be used to encrypt things like terrorist recruiting books, child pornography, and probably the anarchist cookbook. Once again the technology is ambivalent to what it is used for (see p2p”>see p2p). Take away PGP now and soon you will need to take away all strong encryption. Do that and eventually you will need to get rid of SSL leading to the demise of e-commerce. Just because a person has PGP on their computer does not make that person a criminal. (Shit, I have PGP on my computer right now!) It would be like trying to link a person with a large fireproof safe in his closet to the theft of “The Scream.”

Full article here

Minnesota court takes dim view of encryption
Published: May 24, 2005, 3:02 PM PDT

By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

A Minnesota appeals court has ruled that the presence of encryption software on a computer may be viewed as evidence of criminal intent.

Ari David Levie, who was convicted of taking illegal photographs of a nude 9-year-old girl, argued on appeal that the PGP encryption utility on his computer was irrelevant and should not have been admitted as evidence during his trial. PGP stands for Pretty Good Privacy and is sold by PGP Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.

But the Minnesota appeals court ruled 3-0 that the trial judge was correct to let that information be used when handing down a guilty verdict.

“We find that evidence of appellant’s Internet use and the existence of an encryption program on his computer was at least somewhat relevant to the state’s case against him,” Judge R.A. Randall wrote in an opinion dated May 3.
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Randall favorably cited testimony given by retired police officer Brooke Schaub, who prepared a computer forensics report–called an EnCase Report–for the prosecution. Schaub testified that PGP “can basically encrypt any file” and “other than the National Security Agency,” nobody could break it.

The court didn’t say that police had unearthed any encrypted files or how it would view the use of standard software like OS X’s FileVault. Rather, Levie’s conviction was based on the in-person testimony of the girl who said she was paid to pose nude, coupled with the history of searches for “Lolitas” in Levie’s Web browser.

Judge Thomas Bibus had convicted Levie of two counts of attempted use of a minor in a sexual performance and two counts of solicitation of a child to engage in sexual conduct. The appeals court reversed the two convictions for attempted use of a minor, upheld the two solicitation convictions, and sent the case back to Bibus for a new sentence.

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