Thursday, May 26, 2005

Court takes dim view of encryption

A Minnesota appeals court has ruled that the presence of <A HREF="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5718978.html?tag=zdnn.alert">encryption software on a computer may be viewed as evidence of criminal intent.</A> 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.[Ed. note--This has got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Because I secure my date to prevent its theft, then I have criminal intent?]

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