Net firms cry foul over anti-terror laws

Legislation to help anti-terror investigations has been called "heavy-handed".

Plans to ensure net firms in the UK help with anti-terrorism investigations are flawed and need clarifying, it is claimed.

The more heavy-handed legislation we have, the less attractive the UK becomes for international e-commerce

UK's Internet Service Providers Association

The industry body representing British internet service providers claims swiftly drafted anti-terror legislation could impose a heavy burden on firms.

The new laws do little to compensate net companies for the work they will have to undertake to comply with the crackdown, claims the body.

The proposed legislation also does little to give legal protection to firms helping legitimate police enquiries, it says.

Net protests

The controversial Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security bill goes before the House of Lords on Tuesday for debate and possible amendment.

The measures included in the bill are intended to help police forces investigate suspected terrorists, as well as make it much more difficult for terror groups to fund themselves or to hide their activities.

The House of Lords debates the anti-terrorism legislation on Tuesday

However, the bill has been widely criticised by civil liberty campaigners, who claim it tramples over widely held freedoms in the name of tactics that will be of little use when tackling terror.

Peers are expected to savage the draft bill, but even before they get the chance to have their say, the UK's Internet Service Providers Association has weighed in with its own criticisms.

A spokeswoman for ISPA said the proposed bill needed much more refinement before it became workable.

"We are concerned that these plans are going through the house very quickly with very little parliamentary scrutiny," she said.

Equipment costs

The net industry body has particular problems with clauses in the bill that call on them to retain records of the surfing habits and e-mail correspondence of their customers, she said.

The details of just what information net service firms were expected to keep and how long they should retain it had not been spelled out in sufficient detail in the bill, said the spokeswoman.

ISPA also has worries about the cost of retaining records on large numbers of customers. So far, she said, there were few guarantees about the compensation that would be given to firms which would have to buy new equipment to retain the data.

When joined with the equally controversial Regulation of Investigator Powers Act, which also forces net providers to help police forces with investigations, the legislation was in danger of hobbling British net firms, she warned.

She called on the government to re-think its plans and tighten up the legislation before it was passed.

"We totally support the broad aims of the bill and the industry works closely with government and law enforcement in assisting wherever we can," she said, "But the more heavy-handed legislation we have, the less attractive the UK becomes for international e-commerce."