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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
(Score: 4, Insightful) by exaeta on Saturday March 07 2020, @03:58AM (3 children)
Or maybe this forces website operators to do the police's work of policing content. Why should they be forced to do that?
In any case, it's likely companies will simply stop moderating content altogether if immunity is removed. If there is no moderation the company isn't 'curating' the content and isn't the speaker for 1st amendment purposes.
The grant of immunity is there to *encourage* moderation because it allows them to selectively moderate without being liable for the stuff they leave up. The alternative of not moderating at all and thus not functioning as a 'curator' is still on the table and can't be taken away absent a constitutional amendment. I think gutting this immunity might have the opposite of desired effect. Do you understand the reason congress passed 230 was because prior, there was in many cases no moderation whatsoever for fear of being labeled as the "author" or "curator" of illegal content? A dumb pipe that transmits anything you send it doesn't generally establish liability, nor should it. The phone company shouldn't be liable for illegal things discussed in phone calls.
The modern platform based internet where content is hosted by third parties requires this immunity to exist. Otherwise we will go back to the era where people made direct connections to eachother and thanks to the 5th amendment plus end to end encryption combo, there is basically a 0% chance of breaking into that. At least with a third party you can get a warrant.
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 5, Informative) by exaeta on Saturday March 07 2020, @04:04AM (2 children)
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Saturday March 07 2020, @06:04PM (1 child)
qTox.. I wish its use would become widespread enough to make the news. I would like to see how robust it is against attacks from the state, and its lapdog media. I mean, the only weapon they will have is the ISP itself where the connection is made. They can just block encrypted packets. Then what?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 10 2020, @04:31AM
qTox is only secure as long as your keys are secure.
Given how many people are running Windows 10, those keys are NOT secure, which means all law enforcement has to do is compromise someone on your list who chats with you regularly and get you to send a file that is illegal to them instead of your friend, or even just passively sniff the stream on their end.
Unless you also have anonymity you can't assume your privacy is enough.