Snooping Bill to become law by November

The House of Commons last night accepted all the House of Lords' amendments made to the so-called snooping Bill, which is now set to receive Royal Assent and become law in November.

Little opposition was shown to the amendments to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill, although some MPs expressed dissatisfaction with the definition of what data could be demanded by police authorities. Other MPs wanted clarification of the extent to which the government would refund costs incurred by ISPs in complying with the Bill.

In recent weeks, the House of Lords has made a number of changes to the Bill, the most important being the criteria and method for allowing law enforcement agencies to access keys needed to decrypt coded email, as well as the costs involved in implementing the Bill.

Home Office Minister Charles Clarke rejected a briefing document issued by industry think-tank the Foundation for Information Policy Research which said the technical measures of the Bill could easily be side-stepped by criminals.

"I do not accept the comments of the Foundation for Information Policy Research quoted by the honourable Member for South Dorset," said Clark.

"I would not have responded to this debate, except to say that, but I cannot let his remarks stand on the record unchallenged. I accept the genuine feeling with which he said that we had tried to address the point, but not the views of the Foundation for Information Policy Research," he added.