Imagine Bob owns an ISP...

[Olav Stetter]

Hello everyone!
I thought the following question might be of interest: Imagine Bob owns an 
ISP. Bob doesn't like government agencies very much and has (yet) no 
surveillence equipment installed. Alice now makes a contract with Bob that he 
provides internet access to Alice and she pays for it. If Bob is forced to 
install Carnivore-like equipment or anything of the like, he promises to tell 
Alice immediately. If he doesn't and Alice finds out, he has to pay [insert 
very large sum here] $ to Alice.

Now what happens when Bob is legally (or otherwise) forced to make his 
network a "patriotic" one and isn't allowed to tell Alice?
(as it is proposed in this "Convention on Cyber-Crime" by the European Union; 
at least that is my reading, which may very well be wrong; but in fact it is 
of no relevance here)

Thanks,
Olav Stetter


-- 
Noch sind sie gleich bereit, zu weinen und zu lachen,
Sie ehren noch den Schwung, erfreuen sich am Schein;
Wer fertig ist, dem ist nichts rechts zu machen;
Ein Werdender wird immer dankbar sein.
--  Faust I, J. W. v. Goethe