Electronic Communications Act 2000
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Long title | An Act to make provision to facilitate the use of electronic communications and electronic data storage; to make provision about the modification of licences granted under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984; and for connected purposes. |
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Citation | 2000 c.7 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 25 May 2000 |
Status: Unknown | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk |
The Electronic Communications Act 2000 (c.7) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that:
- Regulates the provision of cryptographic services in the UK (ss.1-6); and
- Confirms the legal status of electronic signatures (ss.7-10).
The United Kingdom government had come to the conclusion that encryption, encryption services and electronic signatures would be important to e-commerce in the UK.[1]
By 1999, however, only the security services still hankered after key escrow. So a "sunset clause" was put in the bill. The May 2000 Electronic Communications Act gave the Home Office the power to create a registration regime for encryption services. This was given a five-year period before it would automatically lapse.
The five years expired in May 2006 and the legislation granting such a power disappeared from the statute book.
References
- ↑ Ward, Mark (2 August 2000). "Net leaves the law behind". BBC News Online.
External links
- An account from the Foundation For Information Policy Research
- Text of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk
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