[12643] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Gov demanding PGP key.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Barry Shein)
Wed May 25 03:59:52 1994
Date: Tue, 24 May 1994 22:03:33 -0400
From: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
To: willis@cs.tamu.edu
Cc: bruce@phantom.com, willis@cs.tamu.edu, eff-mail-com-priv@eff.org,
kadie@eff.org
In-Reply-To: <199405250120.UAA17759@neuron.cs.tamu.edu> (message from Willis Marti on Tue, 24 May 1994 20:20:10 -0500)
>From: Willis Marti <willis@cs.tamu.edu>
>>I assume they want the info to see if they can track down other
>>victims. But if they already have him on a conviction without that
>>info I'd call that probable cause to investigate further.
>
>My previous posting had a typo referencing the 4th Amendment -- should have
>been the 5th. Are you saying that doesn't apply?
I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that
demanding access to physical keys or lock combinations has long ago
been decided to not be a 5th amendment issue. It would seem analogous.
Self-incrimination doesn't generally cover giving access to property
that might be incriminating. That's covered by proper search warrants.
But I wouldn't claim this is indisputable, tho it would seem analogous
to the govt demanding you turn over the combination to a safe or
whatever which I believe they can do w/o treading on 5th amendment
issues.
-Barry Shein
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