That’s what some commmentators are urging. But in something of a triumph for RIP lobbyists, the UK government does appear to be climbing down on certain aspects of its plan to obtain sweeping powers to monitor the UK’s e-mail traffic.  Yet despite the new government package, which offers two significant concessions, the Bill still has some particularly pernicious aspects (read on) and remains highly likely to cause critical damage to UK business confidence. Despite cosmetic re-wording, completely discretionary powers for any public authority to demand keys instead of plaintext (including long-term keys to future information) remain unaltered. ‘These new clauses take RIP beyond the complexity pain barrier,’ commented Caspar Bowden of FIPR. ‘Individuals cannot know where they stand, companies cannot know what is at risk, and the law cannot be enforced. RIP’s house of cards is collapsing, and the problem is Government Access to Keys - GAK must go.‘The two key points that have been conceded are, however, crucial. First the burden of proof is now back where it should be - with the prosecution, who now have to show PANTS (Possession At Notice Time of Serving) beyond reasonable doubt. Secondly, decryption notices must now be served on company directors and not on junior employees, which will help a lot of ISPs, banks and businessess out of some potentially treacherous waters. But claims that the British Home Secretary must now sign a warrant before an individual’s e-mails can be monitored are unfounded according to FIPR. ‘There have been a lot of cosmetic adjustments to do with “disclosure requirements”,’ comments Bowden, ‘but actually nothing of substance has changed.’ The British Chambers of Commerce has welcomed the amendments and a spokesman indicated that they might be sufficient for the organisation to drop its opposition. If only the changes had laid the concerns of the rest of the UK’s population to rest. These latest amendments have left RIP in an unmitigated mess, with a lot of clarification needed if the law is to be workable - let alone ethical. More RIP: www.fipr.org/rip