At 08:58 PM 7/28/2001 -0400, Declan McCullagh wrote:
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Unfortunately, the reporter never mentioned some of the more
disturbing aspects of the law.
It allows police to randomly stop people on streets, who are then
required to give their names (so much for anonymity) or go to prison.
Cops can seize any cash that they believe "is intended to be used for
the purposes of terrorism," with no court authorization required. Gone
is the traditional burden of proof: Judges are required to assume that
contraband in the same building as the accused is owned by the accused
"unless he proves that he did not know of its presence on the premises
or that he had no control over it."
Perhaps the most fascinating section restricts even owning information
that could be useful to "a person committing or preparing an act of
terrorism." If hackers are terrorists, better delete your copy of Back
Orifice and bugtraq archives now.
Looks like freedom loving people in the U.K. need to start considering just how acceptable the downsides an Initial Political Load of Parliment might be. Same goes for those weasels in D.C.
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