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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

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  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Sunday March 08 2020, @06:36PM (6 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Sunday March 08 2020, @06:36PM (#968245) Journal

    It's not broken. Like everything else it merely succumbs to *might makes right*. You still have haven't shown how it can be any worse than what is happening right now, in practice, not theory

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

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday March 10 2020, @03:46AM (5 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 10 2020, @03:46AM (#968895) Journal

    Like everything else it merely succumbs to *might makes right*.

    Not even wrong. It's not about the mighty deciding what's right. It's creating a system without even rudimentary controls on bad behavior.

    • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday March 10 2020, @03:57AM (4 children)

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday March 10 2020, @03:57AM (#968900) Journal

      You're just scared of losing privilege

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

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday March 10 2020, @01:17PM (3 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 10 2020, @01:17PM (#969023) Journal
        What privilege?

        • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday March 10 2020, @02:56PM (2 children)

          by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday March 10 2020, @02:56PM (#969073) Journal

          Ah yes, just like the fish, 'what water'?

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

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday March 10 2020, @08:22PM (1 child)

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 10 2020, @08:22PM (#969267) Journal
            No argument again, I see

            • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday March 10 2020, @09:27PM

              by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday March 10 2020, @09:27PM (#969302) Journal

              You offer nothing to argue... You just express fantasy

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