Marcel --
...and then Marcel Popescu said...
% Can the police legally force you to commit something illegal? [Well, maybe
Nope.
% not illegal - to break a contract, and thus expose yourself to a lawsuit.] I
Yep. That's the difference; if you create a contract that is legally
unenforcable because it includes a provision going around or above the
local applicable law, then you don't have a leg to stand on (and that's
why typical contract language includes something about like "if any
portion of this contract is unenforceable, the unaffected portions of the
contract remain in effect"). After all, I could sign a contract with
an ISP to put up something illegal like a child porn site (no discussion
of the example, please; I just wanted to pick something generally agreed
to be illegal), but as part of the investigation that would certainly
result the first time anyone saw a picture I'm sure that the ISP could
and would be forced to divulge the information.
% just read that the Finnish police forced Julf Helsingius, the anon.penet.fi
% operator, to reveal the real name of a user (I wasn't on the internet in
How very interesting. I wonder why... Things like this, and even the
hypothetical scenario above, are why nomes de plume are a Good Thing and
why insulating yourself behind a company -- or, better yet, a chain or
network of them -- is a wise choice.
% 1995). If he had a contract with that users, saying that he cannot reveal
% their names, could the police still legally demand that? [Note that I ask
That's an entirely different question, and not dependent on whether or
not he had a contract. Without going too much farther down this hole :-)
I will say that the police can certainly demand whatever they want, just
as you or I can, regardless of whether or not the demand is legal, and
they will often get it (unlike the typical results for you or I, in my
experience!).
% about legality - and I'm interested in any laws, whether US, UK, or any
% other country.]
The drabble above is based solely on my first-hand experience and
second-hand hearsay in the US; I do not speak from any sort of
authoritative or even particularly informed position.
HTH & HAND!
%
% Mark
:-D
--
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