Man imprisoned for not giving police password.

[semi-pro waster]

actually if the press are not alowed to report what he was uspected of the story either

a) holds no interest and does not get reported.


b) is turned on the government in a "omg you get sent to jail for not giving passwords over with no crime suspected".

style thing.

If the press aren't allowed to report on trials then it becomes more of an issue, we want our judicial system to be open, fair and impartial (or at least I do) and exposing it to media scrutiny isn't necessarily a bad thing. I do however believe that anonymity for those accused of sexual offences crimes is a topic that merits discussion as it is one of a relatively small number of offences where the mere accusation is seen almost as a presumption of guilt - no smoke without fire and all that nonsense, unfair though that may be. The obvious counter to that is naming the accused may encourage others who have been victims of their actions to come forwards and report them.

It's a difficult issue as both arguments have merit and there are obvious downsides to both, on balance I think that not allowing anonymity is justified as the potential downside of not releasing the names of the accused is that more sex offenders will not be prosecuted but there's very little absolute right and wrong here.

But thats a tad pointless now seeing as its already aired now that he's a suspected paedophile!

Not if he changes his name and that is not released, the boys that killed James Bulger for instance had their names released but subsequently have gone under assumed names so it's not an impossibility.

 

[Evilsod]

So where has the accusation come from? Why publish that information if they don't have the physical evidence over than 'suspected'...it baffles the mind.

Well i assume there is something yes but we can only speculate what that something is. In reality this could be a set up or he could be Britains number 1 purveyor of child porn. The point is if you are going to report it if you can't do it in an unbiased way with all of the information available then you shouldn't at all. And since that situation would never arise it should simply never be reported.

Yeah, it's also how societies tend to evolve, there is always injustice and seedy things occurring, they have to be noticed by society and get to the point that they become totally unacceptable, either financially, or ethically etc, at which point things evolve and change, inevitably changes never work 100% and there is always some negative impact, even if the positive is quite large, and people being people, always concentrate on the negative, no matter how small, and can't put it in context of the big picture/real world.

Everyone wants a utopia, but it can never exist, all logical solutions end in massive restrictions of freedom, and we will never accept it... we'll carry on compromising/balancing levels of acceptability and freedom, it's fruitless to fight it with silly utopian ideals..

An unfortunate truth yes. Reminds me of the full body scanners, people objecting to people seeing a 'naked' image of them. I'm sorry would you prefer to be felt up? Perhaps you would like mr terrorist over there to sneak a weapon in? When me and my gf came through Manchester Airport she went through a body scanner (without even knowing what it was) while i got felt up because i forgot to take my sodding mp3 player out my pocket. When i told her she couldn't care less because she was through the security gate in 5 seconds while i was there a few minutes later eventually putting my shoes back on.

It's very easy to remain transparent and still keep anonymity. The papers can still report the facts of the case but should be banned from including personal details like name, address and (possibly) occupation e.g "A 25 year old Liverpool man has gone on trial today for alleged child porn offences. He is charged with x, y and z"

On a global scale that wouldn't matter. On a local scale however, someone could very easily join the dots and realise that the 25 year old guy across the street happened to get arrested last night and so it would begin again. Nothing at all would be better than ill drawn conclusions.

 

[Delvis]

OK, but the information is readily available to anyone who cares to look at the public court records.

But things like 'suspected' shouldn't be readily available....as, it can and is sometimes, damaging and false information.

 

[Vonhelmet]

But things like 'suspected' shouldn't be readily available....as, it can and is sometimes, damaging and false information.

I'm not saying "suspected" should be available.

However, it has to be available that he has gone to prison for refusing to give up a password as part of a police investigation into unstated crimes that he was suspected of being involved in.

It's not much of a leap to guess what those unstated crimes might be. That is my point.

 

[Delvis]

I'm not saying "suspected" should be available.

However, it has to be available that he has gone to prison for refusing to give up a password as part of a police investigation into unstated crimes that he was suspected of being involved in.

It's not much of a leap to guess what those unstated crimes might be. That is my point.

I'd welcome that change...

hell, you can guess all you like, atleast it isn't published anywhere, therefore possibly damaging someones life more so than it already needs to be (Yes....they brought it on themselves doing whatever they have done, but its just pointless...Look, we have the power, so we're going to make it as worse as possible for you and throw it in your face )

 

[soprano]

How do they know his password is 50 characters long? How does Mr Drage remember what his password is if it's that long?

its 1 to 49 then number 51, genius crack that MI5

 

[Wicksta]

its 1 to 49 then number 51, genius crack that MI5

Except that would be slightly more than 50 characters.

 

[Deluxe1]

Can we have a simple yes or no poll so we can see who actually thinks he is guilty or not?

 

[Delvis]

Can we have a simple yes or no poll so we can see who actually thinks he is guilty or not?

Can't really with lack of evidence

 

[Dunks]

Except that would be slightly more than 50 characters.

Erm, no it would not be.

 

[sunama]

I haven't read all through the 432 posts in this thread but is there actual people posting that the lad might actually be innocent of having paedo material?
Give over - he's guilty as hell and will be treated as a nonce inside when they find out why he's there.

Wow. We have a winner.

Guilty until proven innocent!!!

Other than withholding a password, he has not been charged with any offence.

It is highly presumptuous for anybody to assume a guilty verdict, without an investigation by the Police, without any formal charges regarding child porn, without any trial and without a guilty verdict.

The guy's case has not even been investigated. Whatever the Police have tried, has failed and their last glimmer of hope of nailing him for something lies on an encrypted hard disk. Without that disk, they have nothing.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Would you expect 16 weeks jail for not giving the police your front door keys.

Not quite the same thing as keys are not the only way through a door but I would expect to be arrested for denying the police entry to my property if they had a legal search warrant, yes.

Jail while being called a paedophile and all the horrible consequences that come with it?

He is suspected of a very serious offence which would carry a considerable jail sentance. In order for the police to charge him with this offence, they require evidence they suspect is encrypted in a file only accessible with the password.

If the accused is innocent, he can either:

a) Refuse to give the password and receive a 16 week jail sentance, along with his name all over the papers as a suspected sex offender.
b) Give the password, and be proven innocent. All charges would be dropped. Sure they might find some dodgy software. Or some really rather questionable photos of his girlfriend. But what legal material could possibly be worse than a 16 week jail sentance and your name all over the press as a suspected sex offender?!

If the accused is guilty, he can either:

a) Refuse to give the password and receive a 16 week jail sentance, along with his name all over the papers as a suspected sex offender.
b) Give the password and be proven guilty, and receive a significant jail sentance and a conviction.

Step back from the moral crusade for a moment and ask yourself really, are his actions those of an innocent man?

Really?

Lets swap this round and ask do you really wish to leave in a world where dangerous criminals* can easily and foolproofly hide evidence in a place where police can never recover it, so they can remain free?

*Interesting I do not classify people like the guy in question as dangerous criminals if they merely possess stuff rather than make it, but thats a whole new argument.

 

[markweatherill]

I also have a 50+ character password for my PC and even some smaller individual passwords attached to certain folders. If Police suddenly came to my door falsely acusing me of being a paedophile (or of a crime I know I didn't commit) and taking possession of my PC I wouldn't tell them the password. Now forgive me for being selfish, but even if they told me that it would aid their investigation and possibly even save a life. I still wouldn't reveal my password. Instead I would simply state that I had forgotten it.

My computer contains private documents with details about my life, the life of my family and of our friends. Would I go to jail to protect their privacy and mine, stand up for my rights and risk being labeled a paedophile for the rest of m life? Yes I would. A man who sacrifices a little freedom for a little security deserves nether and will loose both. I would stand by my freedoms and my liberties long before I bowed before the whims of a corrupt and oppresive legal system that would threaten to strip me of my rights.

Now it might just be the Scottish blood that flows through my viens, but I would die a 1000 times over before I gave up my freedom and I would back any man or woman from every race, creed and religion who thought likewise.

It's nice to live by and stand for such principles, I suppose, but if it came down to it, you'd just lie and say 'I forgot the password'?

 

[Vonhelmet]

Can we have a simple yes or no poll so we can see who actually thinks he is guilty or not?

Guilty of what? Failing to give up a password? Clearly guilty. Guilty of child porn? Hard to say. Guilty of something? Probably.

 

[NickM]

Erm, no it would not be.

Are you sure...

 

[Deluxe1]

I also have a 50+ character password for my PC and even some smaller individual passwords attached to certain folders. If Police suddenly came to my door falsely acusing me of being a paedophile (or of a crime I know I didn't commit) and taking possession of my PC I wouldn't tell them the password. Now forgive me for being selfish, but even if they told me that it would aid their investigation and possibly even save a life. I still wouldn't reveal my password. Instead I would simply state that I had forgotten it.

My computer contains private documents with details about my life, the life of my family and of our friends. Would I go to jail to protect their privacy and mine, stand up for my rights and risk being labeled a paedophile for the rest of m life? Yes I would. A man who sacrifices a little freedom for a little security deserves nether and will loose both. I would stand by my freedoms and my liberties long before I bowed before the whims of a corrupt and oppresive legal system that would threaten to strip me of my rights.

Now it might just be the Scottish blood that flows through my viens, but I would die a 1000 times over before I gave up my freedom and I would back any man or woman from every race, creed and religion who thought likewise.

Nice move,you'd still end up being classed as a paedo which could leave you and your family in danger and no doubt you would lose a lot of friends.

 

[[TW]Fox]

It amazes me that people think so much of their own little lives that they think a police officer involved in a case like this would give a stuff about your bank details, wedding pictures, contact details of friends or anything else you put a 50 CHARACTER encryption password on.

It's like building a fortress around your house with time delay security locks, security gatehouse, razor wire and 10 metre down underground blast fencing and then saying there is nothing out of the ordinary going on in the house.

 

[Duff-Man]

Erm, no it would not be.

Are you just taking the mick or something? It would obviously be 91 characters...

 

[Delvis]

It amazes me that people think so much of their own little lives that they think a police officer involved in a case like this would give a stuff about your bank details, wedding pictures, contact details of friends or anything else you put a 50 CHARACTER encryption password on.

It's like building a fortress around your house with time delay security locks, security gatehouse, razor wire and 10 metre down underground blast fencing and then saying there is nothing out of the ordinary going on in the house.

Nout wrong with protecting your property and its belongings to be honest

 

[Deluxe1]

Nout wrong with protecting your property and its belongings to be honest

At the risk of spending 16 weeks in jail which could leave you jobless and classed as a paedo when you come out and maybe having to upsticks and move to another area? You could literally lose everything...