Time to fix the flawed Snooping Bill

The official home of Hansard, where you will find transcripts of all UK Parliamentary debates, isn't about to challenge AOL or eBay on the impression count anytime soon. But later today, it may well be worth pointing your browser at http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld/ldhansrd.htm

This week the House of Lords takes the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (aka 'Snooping') Bill to committee stage, a final opportunity to reshape a piece of legislation that deals with the interception and decryption of information sent through cyberspace.

Hansard will make worthwhile reading if you are an email user, a customer of an ISP or simply concerned about the UK's role in the ecommerce revolution.

At least we hope it will make worthwhile reading. The onus rests with the Lords because this flawed Bill was given an easy ride through the House of Commons. silicon.com has learnt there are 230 amendments ready to be tabled this week. Sounds promising - but only if the Lords address three crucial questions:

why should an individual be forced to prove he/she was never in possession of, or legitimately lost, decryption keys?

why should ISPs be expected carry the bulk of the costs for implementing interception technology?

why should companies be forced to give up client privileged data at the risk of court action?

None of these questions has been satisfactorily answered by Jack Straw and the rest of his Home Office team. silicon.com has forwarded readers' responses to the government and Lords demanding a rethink.

It's now up to the Lords to force the issue. The ebusiness community expects...