United States v. Boucher

United States v. Boucher

"United States v. Boucher", 2007 WL 4246473, is a federal criminal case in Vermont, which was the first to directly address the question of whether a criminal defendant can be compelled to reveal his encryption passphrase, despite the U.S. Constitution Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

Facts

The defendant's laptop was inspected when he crossed the border into the U.S. from Canada. Images that allegedly contained child pornography were viewed by border agents who then seized his laptop. The laptop was protected by the PGP Disk encryption program and the government was subsequently unable to read the contents of the drive "Z:", containing the images.

A grand jury then issued a subpoena for the passphrase needed to recover the encryption key that protects the data.

Decision of the United States District Court

On November 29, 2007, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Niedermeier of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont stated "Compelling Boucher to enter the password forces him to produce evidence that could be used to incriminate him." [http://www.volokh.com/files/Boucher.pdf] Accordingly, Niedermeier quashed the subpoena.

On January 2, 2008, the United States appealed the magistrate's opinion to the District Court in a sealed motion (court docket, case #: 2:06-mj-00091-wks-jjn-1). [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/07/america/legal.php U.S. courts consider legality of laptop inspections - International Herald Tribune ] ] The appeal is to be heard by U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions. [ [http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9854034-38.html Feds appeal loss in PGP compelled-passphrase case | The Iconoclast - politics, law, and technology - CNET News.com ] ]

ee also

*"Doe v. United States", ussc|487|201|1988
*"United States v. Hubbell", ussc|530|27|2000
*"United States v. Arnold" [ [http://www.eff.org/cases/us-v-arnold Electronic Frontier Foundation: U.S. v. Arnold] ]

References

Further reading

*cite journal |last=Casey |first=Eoghan |authorlink= |coauthors=Stellatos, Gerasimos J. |year=2008 |month= |title=The impact of full disk encryption on digital forensics |journal=Operating Systems Review |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=93–98 |doi=10.1145/1368506.1368519 |url= |accessdate= |quote=
* cite journal | last = Clemens | first = Aaron M. | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2004 | month = | title = No Computer Exception to the Constitution: The Fifth Amendment Protects Against Compelled Production of an Encrypted Document or Private Key | journal = Journal of Law and Technology | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | pages = | id = | url = http://www.lawtechjournal.com/articles/2004/02_040413_clemens.php | accessdate = | quote =
*cite news |first=Ellen |last=Nakashima |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=In Child Porn Case, a Digital Dilemma: U.S. Seeks to Force Suspect to Reveal Password to Computer Files |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/15/AR2008011503663.html?nav=hcmodule |work=Washington Post |publisher= |date=January 16, 2008 |accessdate=
*cite journal |last=Sergienko |first=Greg S. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1996 |month= |title=Self Incrimination and Cryptographic Keys |journal=Richmond Journal of Law and Technology |volume=2 |issue= |pages=1 |id= |url=http://www.richmond.edu/jolt/v2i1/sergienko.html |accessdate= |quote=

External links

* [http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html Judge: Man can't be forced to divulge encryption passphrase] , by Declan McCullagh, CNet News
* [http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9854034-38.html Feds appeal loss in PGP compelled-passphrase case] , by Declan McCullagh, CNet News
* [https://ecf.vtd.uscourts.gov/doc1/1851273316 Opinion and Order In re: Grand Jury Subpoena] , Nov. 29, 2007, Case No. 2:06-mj-91, document 35. PACER account registration required, but there is no charge for viewing this document.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • United States v. Arnold — is a legal case in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution does not require government agents to have reasonable suspicion before searching laptops or other… …   Wikipedia

  • United States v. Hubbell — SCOTUSCase Litigants=United States v. Hubbell ArgueDate=February 22 ArgueYear=2000 DecideDate=June 5 DecideYear=2000 FullName= United States of America v. Webster Hubbell USVol=530 USPage=27 Citation=120 S. Ct. 2037; 147 L. Ed. 2d 24 Holding=(1)… …   Wikipedia

  • United States House of Representatives elections, 2002 — 2000 ← November 5, 2002 → 2004 …   Wikipedia

  • United States National Development Team — Données clés Fondé le 1996 Sièg …   Wikipédia en Français

  • United States (paquebot) — 39° 55′ 05″ N 75° 08′ 13″ W / 39.91795278, 75.1369 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2008 — In 2008, all 11 members of Virginia s delegation to the United States House of Representatives will be up for re election to the 111th United States Congress. This will coincide with the presidential and senatorial elections. The Primary election …   Wikipedia

  • United States Lines — Le United States, dernier détenteur du Ruban bleu et vaisseau amiral des United States Lines Les United States Lines sont une compagnie maritime qui a exploité des cargos de 1921 à 1989 et des paquebots jusqu en 1969, dont le plus célèbre est le… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • United States presidential election, 1984 — Infobox Election election name = United States presidential election, 1984 country = United States type = presidential ongoing = no previous election = United States presidential election, 1980 previous year = 1980 next election = United States… …   Wikipedia

  • Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution — United States of America This article is part of the series: United States Constitution Original text of the Constitution Preamble Articles of the Constitution I · …   Wikipedia

  • 111th United States Congress — United States Capitol (2007) Duration: January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011 Senate President: Dick Cheney (R) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”