My friend Dave del Torto said recently: Tim May notes (appropriately) that: >>Strong crypto means even Ollie North can fully protect his >>records. Yes, but shouldn't he be _required_ to "open" his files if he is under criminal investigation just like a drug-dealer who's required to open the locked trunk of his car? Actually, the drug dealer is *not* required to open his locked car trunk. But he might as well, otherwise the police (with search warrent) will force it open, probably causing some damage which they will not pay to repair. There doesn't seem to be any practical way to "force open" a (strongly) encrypted message without the key. Failure to produce the key when ordered might be an excuse for firing a govt. employee, but it can't be the basis for a criminal prosecution (5th Amendment). "Murdering Thug" further commented: Well, there are really two conflicting issues here: 1) The Fifth Amendment - the right not to testify against yourself, hence the Miranda warning when you're arrested. You can claim that being forced to decrypt your hard disk by the cops violates your Fifth Amendment rights, and refuse to decrypt it. 2) Obstruction of Justice - by not handing over the key to your hard disk, you may be obstructing an investigation. By not decrypting your hard disk under court order, you maybe be held in contempt of court. Number 2 may work for law enforcement if they are investigation a third party and ask to see your hard disk in order to help their investigation. A good example is an Internet site that is being used as a telnet launch-pad by some hacker. If that site refuses to cooperate and keeps their files encrypted, the police/court may charge you with obstruction of justice or contempt of court. HOWEVER, if you feel that by decrypting these files, you would be providing testimony/evidence against yourself, you can plead the 5th, and tell them to go screw themselves. Pleading the 5th will fail if you are offered *immunity* from prosecution for anything you reveal (as Ollie North was, recall, for his testimony before Congress). If you still don't want to testify (to avoid providing damaging evidence against your friends, for example) your next line of defense is "I forget". Very hard for the prosecutor to prove beyond reasonable doubt that you really remember that secret key. -- edgar@spectrx.saigon.com (Edgar W. Swank) SPECTROX SYSTEMS +1.408.252.1005 Silicon Valley, Ca