"not fit for purpose"
RIPA or the MPs that voted for it and have only just realised how draconian it is?
MPs calling on an overhaul of the eight-year-old communications data guidance for UK cops and spooks who use snooping measures have accused the Tory-led government of missing its own review target. The Home Office rebutted the criticism this morning by promising to publish a revised RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act …
I doesn't matter if this is over commercial services, this is data created by living human beings; so just assuming contractual terms, especially secret ones, is a massive vague piss take, plain unlawful and outside contracts agreed by /properly informed/ living human beings!
To put it bluntly, if a contract does not meet the four basic contract requirements and living human beings have not been explicitly informed of ALL terms in the body of the contract they agreed to (did they?), that contract can be declared null and void e.g. most of the legal so-called law!
Good god, even El Reg is being infected by Freeman On The Land bollocks now...
Yup, there was a particularly amusing one in the comments of an Orlowski article the other day, sadly it seems a mod has deleted it now, but twas quite a verbose bit of twattery which made me chuckle
It's the same mindset that believes that a Statute is in fact an invitation (by the state) to each and every one of us to enter into a binding contract. Reject that contract and the law no longer applies to you (apparently), funnily enough it seems to be of most use (apart from the fact it fails) when attempting escape debts, fines etc.
A court summons is an invitation, the word 'must' in law actually means 'may'. In fact if a judge asks you whether you understand, it's apparently a sneaky way of getting you to accept the contract.
It's all bollocks, but can be quite amusing to look into - there are a few videos kicking about of 'Freemen' in court, with their behaviour getting the treatment it warrants.
Journalists and their sources are monitored by the police and
surveillance teams, unchecked and unashamed. This is a disgrace in what is supposed to be one of the founding countries of democracy.
The government should hang it's head in shame, but the corrupt and power hungry elite have no shame.
What troubles me most in all this is that there is no accountability for the officers who have misused RIPA for tracking journalistic sources. Naughty boys and girls of course as goes without saying, but noone's taken any action to suggest that misusing the law will have consequences (and it won't) - so there is no deterrence.
When people start losing jobs, other people will start listening...
"There are measures in place to ensure that police powers to access this data are not abused." said security minister James Brokenshire. His words would be a little more reassuring if he explained what these measures are, along with examples of when they have been used. Otherwise, based on previous failures of the establishment to regulate itself, it's reasonable to assume the penalty for being caught abusing these powers is to buy the first round of drinks at the secret policemen's ball. And the measures are trebles all round.