Why does this government seem to want to take all our freedoms away.

This law will just encourage people to be more extreme, protests that were legal previous to this law will become more brutal with the idea that if that is illegal we might as well be as extreme as possible

As a long time Amnesty International member, this sort of "terrorist"
legislation makes the UK sound to me like any of the tinpot dictatorships
that survived in our colonies for most of the 2nd half of the twentieth
century with "our" kind help...

Here's the Amnesty report:
 http://web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/weball/67AEBD7A568D9863802569F9005CE87B

But don't panic! Maybe UK activists, sorry, "terrorists", might want
to request political asylum in the newest Middle East democracy...

 http://web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/weball/E0AF7F38340640BB802569F9005018BD

Guardian - John Vidal - Eco soundings 21.02.01:
The new terrorism act may shape the face of future civil protest, but its passing into British law has been met with a deafening silence by Friends of the Earth, animal rights groups, Greenpeace and all the usual suspects. It was left to Reclaim the Streets - with whom these pages have had their spats over the years - to mark the occasion on Monday by hanging placards off statues of Emmeline Pankhurst and Nelson Mandela and others who these days would be liable to be declared terrorists. They also delivered GM plants to ministers and senior civil servants, and, in an historic move, talked to the press. John Vidal


Channel 4 news Video - looking at protestors and direct action on Monday 19/02/01...
 http://www.channel4news.co.uk/home/20010219/4oil.ram


Editorial: A threat to freedom
The Daily Telegraph (UK Abstracts); Feb 20, 2001
The Terrorism Act, which came into effect yesterday, is a law from New Labour that poses a grave threat to freedom of speech and association. First, it broadens the definition of terrorism to encompass anyone espousing a cause. This gives the police the power to detain and investigate anyone they suspect. Second, the law allows the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, to add to the list of 14 Irish groups that have been proscribed. No one doubts the threat that terrorism poses to the International community, but with this new law Labour has just extended the powers of the executive. Groups that have been put on the list by Mr Straw should appeal their case before the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission, which has yet to be constituted, or to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
 http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/articles.html?id=010220003343&query=terrorism+act#docAnchor010220003343


UK finally complies with rights convention
The new Terrorism Act may conform to the European code and unify British legislation, but critics fear it could stifle legitimate protest
Clare Dyer, legal correspondent, Guardian
Tuesday February 20, 2001
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4138745,00.html


The Terrorism Act
The Prevention of Terrorism Act 1973 has been superseded, as of this morning, by a new and much more draconian piece of legislation directed at international militant groups. Derek Brown explains
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4138618,00.html


UK extends anti-terror laws
February 19, 2001
Web posted at: 1838 GMT
LONDON, England -- Britain has introduced new anti-terrorism legislation under which organisations such as the Palestinian group Hamas and Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers could be banned
 http://europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/02/19/parliament.terrorism/index.html


NEW LEGISLATION MUST BE REGULARLY REVIEWED - HUGHES
19/02/2001
Simon Hughes MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, commenting on the new Terrorism Act which comes into effect today, said: Liberal Democrats welcome a Terrorism Act which will cover all of the United Kingdom in the same way. But legislation which gives the authorities extra powers should have to be renewed by parliament regularly rather than being permanent legislation. The definition of terrorism is also far too wide, in spite of significant efforts by Liberal Democrats and others in parliament to improve it. Liberal Democrats will only support plans to proscribe new organisations as terrorist if the arguments to do so are overwhelming.

 http://www.libdems.org.uk/index.cfm?page=homepage&section=home&article=1044


Monday, 19 February, 2001, 11:02 GMT
Straw defends new terrorism powers
Home Secretary Jack Straw has defended a new anti-terrorism law which gives sweeping powers to crackdown on any groups that use Britain as a base for international terrorism. But civil rights groups have expressed concern with the legislation suggesting that it could stop legitimate protests, such as those against road building or GM crop trials.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_1177000/1177895.stm


BBC AUDIO:

Director of Liberty, John Wadham
"One of the worst measures I've seen for many years"
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1175000/video/_1178103_terrorism08_wadman_vi.ram


Home Secretary Jack Straw
"We have narrowed the definition but broadened the scope"
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1175000/audio/_1178414_terrorism07_straw.ram


The BBC's Paul Anstiss
"The definition of terrorism had been redefined"
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1175000/video/_1178103_terrorism06_anstiss19feb_vi.ram


Monday, 19 February, 2001, 17:12 GMT
Head to Head: New Terrorism Act
The new Terrorism Act which came into effect on Monday is proving highly controversial - with critics saying it could lead to thousands more people becoming terrorist suspects.
Here, the Labour MP Ian Cawsey, a member of the Commons home affairs select committee, defends the new Act while John Wadham, director of Liberty, the human rights organisation, outlines his criticism of the legislation.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/talking_politics/newsid_1178000/1178705.stm


Civil rights groups in jeopardy over new laws
Terrorism Act: Legitimate protest organisations concerned over extensive powers of investigation for police
By Kim Sengupta
20 February 2001
Britain's new Terrorism Act came into force yesterday, giving the Government more sweeping powers against those deemed to be enemies of the state.
When in opposition, Labour MPs, including Jack Straw, had voted against the 1974 Prevention of Terrorism Act. But the legislation now replacing it is far more draconian and puts
legitimate protest groups in jeopardy, under the catch-all term of "terrorism".

 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/Legal/2001-02/civil200201.shtml


Mon, 19 Feb 2001 16:35:00 GMT
Will Knight - ZDNet
Computer hacking comes under government scrutiny with new terrorism act Computer hackers could be classed as terrorists under a UK law that came into force today.
UK ISP GreenNet, which hosts a variety of Web sites belonging to political activists and campaigners, could be affected by the Act. GreenNet consultant and online activist Paul Mobbs, who has coordinated protests through his site, Electrohippies, says that the Act may result in Internet campaigns being controlled.

 http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2001/7/ns-21060.html


Terrorism Act Draws Mixed Reviews
By Jill Lawless
Associated Press Writer
Monday, February 12, 2001; 1:23 PM
LONDON - Anti-terrorist legislation that comes into force next week is hailed by the government as a powerful weapon against international violence. But opponents say the law
will stifle dissent, whether on the Internet or in slogans on a T-shirt.
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/world/specials/inthenews/terror/A59729-2001Feb12.html

Related:
Net tightens around the hacktivists
Big corporations and governments want to curb the protests of the cyber hippies
Tania Branigan Guardian
Tuesday January 2, 2001
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4111437,00.html

*Manchester Guardian" (UK)
Guilty until proven innocent
==================
The redefined Terrorism Act targets environmental activists as well as armed extremists and reverses the burden of proof, says Richard Norton-Taylor

Monday February 19, 2001

From today there will be hundreds, perhaps even thousands more "terrorist suspects" in Britain.

As John Wadham, director of Liberty, the civil rights group, has pointed out, under the new Terrorism Act, protesters and activists, with no interest in overthrowing the state or harming the general public, could find themselves falling under the Act's expanded definition of terrorism.

Under the Act it is a criminal offence to possess any "article" or "information", including photographs, in circumstances which give rise to a "reasonable suspicion" they would be used for "terrorist" purposes - a clause which has serious implications, not least for journalists.

The Act reverses the burden of proof - it will be up to the accused to prove their innocence, in other words, to prove a negative.

That is not all. The definition of terrorism in the bill includes "the use or threat, for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, or ideological cause, of action which involves serious violence against any person or property". This could embrace not only armed extremists but also environmental activists attacking GM crops.

For the first time, the term "terrorism" will apply to domestic groups which can be proscribed by the home secretary. It will be an offence to "provide money or other property" which may be used "for the purposes of terrorism" and not tell the police when you suspect others of doing so.

It will be a criminal offence to speak at the same meeting as someone from a proscribed organisation.

This will have the peculiar result of making it a criminal offence to oppose such an organisation. The meeting could be of no more than three people, private or public. It could be an informal gathering or a discussion in a pub.

The Act also introduces a criminal offence of "incitement" -an offence which could catch, for example, anyone calling for the overthrow of undemocratic regimes abroad. It would have caught Nelson Mandela and other ANC leaders who supported armed struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa.

The Act gives the police an array of sweeping new powers and in effect sets up a parallel criminal justice system wide open to abuse and far beyond the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. It gives them stop and search powers on the basis of "expediency" and of "suspicion", not of committing any offence, but of being connected, or potentially connected, to the bill's vague description of "terrorism".

The Act, says Wadham, "creates a two-tier system - in which people suspected of a criminal act for moral or political reasons will have less rights than someone who commits a similar crime for reasons of lust, greed or viciousness".

By concentrating on motivation, it includes activity which the vast majority of the public would not regard as terrorism, while excluding gangs of racketeers or drug-runners, for example, engaged in serious criminal
activities.

its with a sad resignation that i write this, but it seems that is all i have left. to my shame i voted for this government, the first time i was able to vote. i had this hope that labour had moved infield to garner the vote of a historically conservative (small c) country with the plan to drift back to the left over time. might this still happen? it seems not. i would like the government people who read this site (as im sure they do) to know that i am now a terrorist. u have my adress so u had better come and arrest me right away. then maybe u can beat a confession out of me. i feel i should move to iraq so i can be free. rest assured the resignation which so many of us feel will soon turn to rage. get your pepper spray ready officer. youll need it.

Government to fight terrorism online
by Derek Parkinson on 26 February 2001 09:00:00 GMT
 http://www.netimperative.com/technology/newsarticle.asp?ArticleID=8300&ChannelID=3&ArticleType=1

An anti-terrorist act that came into force in the UK this week could allow the Home Secretary to hold websites responsible for storing and distributing information useful to terrorists.

Section 58 of The Terrorist Act 2000, which received Royal Assent in July 2000, states that ‘a person commits an offence if he collects or makes a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism or possesses a document or record containing information of that kind’. This explicitly covers electronic information.

The section has yet to receive a Commencement Order from the Home Secretary – meaning that it is not yet legally in force. “At the moment, it’s not possible to say if or when the section will get a Commencement Order,” said a spokesperson for solicitors Wragge & Co. “It could be next week or several months,” she added.

The Act contains a clause stating it is a defence for a person charged under the act to claim a reasonable excuse for possessing such material. According to Wragge & Co, this means that ISPs would be unlikely to be prosecuted under the act for unwittingly caching or distributing Web pages that contain bomb-making instructions, for example.

However, websites specialising in political activism or esoteric literature could well find themselves in trouble. A spokesperson for Amazon UK, which sells ‘The Anarchists Cookbook’ – a tract that reputedly contains bomb-making instructions – was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.

AMNESTY CRITICIZES NEW TERRORISM ACT
2001-02-19 13:18:00 EST

 http://www.irisheye.com/0201_news/iais0220.html

A new act giving police in Britain extended powers of arrest for suspected terrorist offences has been introduced today.

The Act - The Terrorism Act 2000 - replaces the existing
Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland
(Emergency Provisions) Act which have been repealed today.

It also provides the British Home Secretary with power to
proscribe organisations believed to be involved in
terrorism.

The Act will allow ministers to add groups to a list of
proscribed organisations, which currently includes groups
such as the IRA, the Ulster Defense Association and the
Ulster Volunteer Force.

Other new provisions under the Act include:

A new definition of terrorism which will apply to all types
of terrorism, including cyber terrorism - the act of
sabotaging companies via the internet, or by other
electronic means;

A UK-wide anti-terrorist legislation (to replace the
existing, separate pieces of temporary legislation for
Northern Ireland and Great Britain);

New powers to seize suspected terrorist cash at borders;

A new offence of inciting terrorist acts abroad from within
the UK;

New judicial arrangements for extensions of enabling Britain
to lift its derogations under the European Convention on
Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights; and

Specific offences relating to training for terrorist
activities.

Mr Jack Straw, the British Home Secretary, says the Act is a
proportionate and flexible response to a changing and
evolving threat.

"This Act strengthens the powers of the police and other
enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism, and is
fully consistent with our obligations under the Human Rights
Act," Mr Straw said

"Terrorism is a uniquely cowardly yet barbaric crime. Its
perpetrators are no respecters of borders and are
continuously developing new approaches and techniques. With
the implementation of the Terrorism Act 2000, the UK is
making a very firm statement of our intent to combat
terrorism, with every legitimate means at our disposal,
whenever or wherever it occurs."

However, Amnesty International has said that the new
Terrorism Act 2000 could lead to breaches of human rights.

A spokesperson for organisation said today that the new Act
puts emergency powers introduced to deal with terrorist
activities in Northern Ireland into permanent legislation.

According to Amnesty, the Act shifts the presumption of
innocence to the assumption of guilt in situations where an
individual has been arrested for the possession of materials
that might be used in a terrorist attack.

In effect, the spokesperson said, if someone is arrested in
the possession of material that has the potential to do
harm, that person must now prove that the material was not
intended for terrorism rather than previously, where the
prosecution had to prove that it was.

Amnesty UK also expressed "serious concern" over the
extension of the stop and search powers given to the police,
and the extension of the amount of time a suspect can be
held without access to a lawyer from 36 to 48 hours.

"We published our concerns regarding the Act when it was
first drafted last April and hoped that Act implemented
would address those concerns," said the Amnesty spokesperson
said.

"However, many of our concerns - notably the extension of
police powers, what we see as a threat to the right to a
fair trial, and the possible violations of the right to
assembly contained in the Act - have not been addressed."

"This Act effectively takes emergency powers that were
conceded to deal with the situation in Northern Ireland and
puts them permanently into legislation."

Amnesty also said that it remained deeply concerned about
the powers of the act despite assurances from the British
Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, that the Act would enhance
civil liberties.

"We still remain concerned about the implications of the Act and will be watching closely to see how it is used," the spokesperson added.

============================================================

Hackers become terrorists under new law
Mon, 19 Feb 2001 16:35:00 GMT
Will Knight


Computer hacking comes under government scrutiny with new terrorism act

Computer hackers could be classed as terrorists under a UK law that came into force today.

The Terrorism Act 2000 is designed to prevent dissident political groups from using the UK as a base for terrorism and recognises a new threat from cyberterrorists for the first time.

But the Act also significantly widens the definition of terrorism to include those actions that "seriously interfere with or seriously disrupt an electronic system". According to the Act this only applies to actions "designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public", but it will be up to police investigators to decide when this is the case. The Act gives police the power to detain suspects for 48-hours without a warrant.

Alex Gordon, a partner with London law firm Berwin Leyton and a specialist in information technology law, said the act gives police significant new powers over computer criminals. "The Act does catch serious computer hacking," he said.

Gordon said it is unlikely that the act could be used to target all computer hackers. However,he said the legislation is so new that guidelines still need to be drawn up.

Just as many marginal political groups fear that the new legislation could lead to the suppression of legitimate offline demonstrations, some cyberactivists are concerned that it could stifle legitimate Internet protest.

UK ISP GreenNet, which hosts a variety of Web sites belonging to political activists and campaigners, could be affected by the Act. GreenNet consultant and online activist Paul Mobbs, who has coordinated protests through his site, Electrohippies, says that the Act may result in Internet campaigns being controlled.

"As more people get on the Internet, it inevitably becomes politicised," he says. "If a group did an email campaign to the prime minister and that disrupted an email system that could be defined as terrorism."

Mobbs believes that the Act could even be used by a authoritarian government to stop legitimate political activism.

Mobbs courted controversy in March 2000 when he created a point-and-click method of attacking the World Trade Organisation's Web sites as part of global protests against capitalism.

The government has broadened the definition of terrorism to include computer-related activity because it is concerned that militant groups are increasingly turning to computer hacking techniques. Internet activism is becoming more evident, with politically-motivated computer hackers, or "hacktivists", defacing Web pages with political messages and blocking off Internet sites for political reasons.

Home secretary Jack Straw has signalled that he intends to clamp down on those exploiting computers and the Internet to perpetrate terrorist activity under the new Act.

"[Terrorists] are no respecters of borders and are continuously developing new approaches and techniques," says Straw. "With the implementation of the Terrorism Act 2000, the UK is making a very firm statement of our intent to combat terrorism, with every legitimate means at our disposal, whenever and wherever it occurs."

The growth of cyberterrorism has been made particularly evident in the activities of Palestinian and Israeli hackers, playing their part in the ongoing Middle East conflict. Their online feud, dubbed an "e-Jihad", has seen protagonists deface and block politically opposed Web sites and bombard enemies with avalanches of email.

Evidence suggests that this type of activism is growing in popularity among other regional militant groups.

 http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2001/7/ns-21060.html