Re: Prosecutor cannot compel disclosure of encryption keys?

On 16 Jun 2006 06:38:52 -0700, "Pubkeybreaker" <Robert_silverman@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

People can be forced to give hair samples, blood samples, DNA samples
etc. despite the 5th amendment. I am pointing out that (with care)
it would be possible to thwart a court order to turn over crypto keys.

No US court can't legally give such an order. They can give you an order to
incriminate someone else but they can't given you an order to incriminate
yourself. Hair, blood and DNA samples are physical evidence, collectable with a
search warrant describing the places to be searched and the things to be siezed
as evidence.

This is nothing at all like forcing you to answer a question that incriminates
you. Just like a court can't order a serial killer to tell prosecutors where
he's hidden the bodies; he can offer to tell the court in exchange for something
but the court cannot ever compel such testimony.
.

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