scott wrote:
>>> Well I guess if they showed he had used it every day for the last 5
>>> years
>>
>>  Big Brother is watching? I'm not comfortable with where this is going...
> 
> If you've just been arrested (and had your PC taken away) on suspicion
> of downloading child porn (or whatever), then I think the police could
> quite easily get records of your activity online, they may have even
> been spying on you already.
> 
> It's then up to the jury what they think after all the facts have been
> presented.  It's not going to look good if you conveniently "forgot" the
> password to work your computer the day it was confiscated, but you
> managed to work it fine for the last few years.
> 

I don't think a jury would ever hear about it, in the USA. Quoting
lectlaw.com :
Civil contempt occurs when the contemnor willfully disobeys a court
order. This is also called indirect contempt because it occurs outside
the judge's immediate realm and evidence must be presented to the judge
to prove the contempt. A civil contemnor, too, may be fined, jailed or
both. The fine or jailing is meant to coerce the contemnor into obeying
the court, not to punish him, and the contemnor will be released from
jail just as soon as he complies with the court order.
http://www.lectlaw.com/def/c118.htm

What is glossed over in that nice quote is that, because it is not
'punishment' the court doesn't have to follow due process. That means no
trial by jury and no real chance to argue that you really did forget the
password.

Deniable encryption tries to get around this, but I'm waiting to see it
tested by an over zealous court. While it might be believable that the
person had turned over all of their keys, it could also be presented
that there is always one more key to turn over.

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