Snooping Bill: Law faces 229 amendments before Lords

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill is facing close scrutiny today as it enters committee stage in the House of Lords.

This is one of the final opportunities for any substantial changes to be made to the 74-clause Bill which gives law enforcement agencies greater powers to intercept Internet communications.

A total of 229 amendments have been tabled. The most significant of these - as proposed by Lord Cope - would improve the position of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), as it makes provision for the creation of a technical board to approve any interception. Another proposal suggests the government pay for the bulk of the compliance costs.

Roland Perry, director of legal affairs at London Internet Exchange (Linx), said: "I am pleased about Lord Cope's call to set up an approval board, which the security services can go to for guidance on what sort of interceptions are feasible. This board will be able to disallow notices that just aren't possible to comply with."

More limited changes are likely to be made in the most controversial part of the Bill - clause 49 - that reverses the burden of proof if a person holding an encryption key can't disclose it for any reason. The amendment would also limit the amount of time that a key holder will be held liable under the law.

This could be particularly important for businesses where the person responsible for holding the key leaves the company.

However, Lord John Cope, leader of the opposition to the Bill in the House of Lords, was doubtful that many of the amendments will be passed. "It is easy to find opposition to the Bill, however what will be harder is to get enough agreement on the necessary remedy to actually pass an amendment," he said.

Caspar Bowden, director at the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), argued that the amendments are simply "window dressing". He said: "We've seen a rise in opposition but there is still no sign that the government is prepared to back down."