Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

U.S. EARN IT Act Could Discourage Adoption of End-to-End Encryption

posted by martyb on Friday March 06 2020, @09:40PM   Printer-friendly

takyon writes:

Proposed US law is "Trojan horse" to stop online encryption, critics say:

Two Republicans and two Democrats in the US Senate have proposed a law that aims to combat sexual exploitation of children online, but critics of the bill call it a "Trojan horse" that could harm Americans' security by reducing access to encryption. The EARN IT (Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies) Act "would create incentives for companies to 'earn' liability protection for violations of laws related to online child sexual abuse material," an announcement by the bill's supporters said today.

Under current law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides website operators broad legal immunity for hosting third-party content. A 2018 law known as FOSTA-SESTA chipped away at that immunity for content related to prostitution and sex trafficking, and the EARN IT Act would further weaken immunity for website operators who fail to take certain to-be-determined measures to find and remove child sexual-abuse material.

In a related development today, US Attorney General William Barr gave a speech calling for an analysis of how Section 230 affects "incentives for platforms to address [child sexual exploitation] crimes and the availability of civil remedies to the victims."

[...] Stewart Baker, who was formerly assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security and general counsel at the National Security Agency, wrote in a blog post that "there is nothing radical" about the bill. "The risk of liability isn't likely to kill encryption or end Internet security," Baker wrote. But Baker acknowledged that the bill will likely make the decision to offer encryption a more difficult one for tech companies

Related:
U.S. Congress Passes SESTA/FOSTA Law
DoJ Lets Cops Know SESTA/FOSTA Is For Shutting Down Websites, Not Busting Sex Traffickers
Crypto Wars: US AG William Barr and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel Shake Fists at Facebook
Senate Judiciary Committee Interrogates Apple, Facebook about Crypto

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
U.S. EARN IT Act Could Discourage Adoption of End-to-End Encryption | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 40 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday March 06 2020, @10:57PM (4 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Friday March 06 2020, @10:57PM (#967691) Journal

    They will have to demand the hardware be locked down. Apple is part way there.

    Ah well, the implants can't be too far off. Not seeing a hell of a lot of resistance. It will be easy to sell with all these "illegals" running around.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..

  • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Monday March 09 2020, @02:25PM (3 children)

    by exaeta (6957) on Monday March 09 2020, @02:25PM (#968491) Homepage Journal
    They can't really. Not as long as the first amendment exists. They legally can't stop you from disclosing source code. Though if they could, I'm sure it would have already been banned
    --
    The Government is a Bird

    • (Score: 1, Disagree) by fustakrakich on Monday March 09 2020, @04:01PM (2 children)

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday March 09 2020, @04:01PM (#968521) Journal

      The 1st Amendment has lost its mojo. The conservative voters are ready to repeal it. Even with open source, deep packet inspection makes it trivial to block unapproved protocols.

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..

      • (Score: 2) by exaeta on Monday March 09 2020, @05:17PM (1 child)

        by exaeta (6957) on Monday March 09 2020, @05:17PM (#968555) Homepage Journal
        Conservatives have been far more supportive of first amendment rights in general... Unless the so called "hate speech" is somehow exempt from "free speech", which is the narrative of the left wing. Left wing colleges are quick to censor whatever they disagree with.
        --
        The Government is a Bird

        • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday March 09 2020, @07:14PM

          by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday March 09 2020, @07:14PM (#968612) Journal

          The so-called "left" is who I am talking about. As democrats, they are the conservatives who say only Nazis want free speech and guns. A lot of people here are wagging the dog.

          --
          La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..