The UK government?s much-maligned RIP has reached the House of Lords, where it is now encountering opposition from the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) and the London School of Economics (LSE), amongst others. Is the UK finally waking up to the dangers of RIP? It?s tabled for only two days of discussion in the Lords, but speculation is mounting that the second house may block the passage of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill entirely. It seems that the rest of UK industry has finally woken up to what groups such as the Foundation for Information Policy Research and Stand have been saying for the last couple of years. For those that have had their head in a ditch, the bill has caused consternation on a number of counts. For a start, it infringes both the European Bill of Human Rights and The Data Protection Act. It also presents grave danger to the government’s own stated aim of making the UK the best place to trade electronically by 2002, and may well set us back even further behind the States. ?From our point of view, this is a negative piece of legislation,? said a spokesperson from the UK ISP X-stream. ?Every UK ISP is trying to drive down costs, so that more people can get online ? a promise that Tony Blair has publicly made. This legislation ensures that the industry pays, and the industry will transmit the cost to the end user. This is in no way a move towards a ?wired Britain?, but will lead to a loss of trust between consumers and ISPs ? people don?t want to be tracked!?The BCC and LSE?s report says the bill lacks detail and structure within the clauses pertaining to encryption key seizure. What is the subsequent protection of keys, the report asks, and what are the details of ISP traffic interception? Who exactly is imbued with the powers to sign the warrants for such activities? Well, the last we heard, even the Eggs Inspectorate were to have the power to intercept your mail. We kid you not. ?In principle, every click of the mouse, every page visited or button clicked could be collected with impunity,? says Professor Norton, head of e-business policy for IoD. ?Is it really the intention to provide the Inland Revenue and VAT inspectors with these powers? Even the car park attendant at the Home office seems to have them under current drafting!?Be warned, though, this is not time to relax and forget about the government’s attempts to enforce this Draconian legislation on us. The RIP bill is still set to become law in October unless the Lords quash it entirely. Visit the FIPR site below to find out what you can do to express your views on this noxious piece of legislation as it edges towards the point of affecting all of our lives. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. The Forum for Information Policy Research’s RIP page: www.fipr.org/rip/