Story Claims PGP Used to Cloak Net Pedophiles

While congressional debate over online censorship heats up, renewed controversy over Philip Zimmerman's Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption technology may also re-emerge.

A story in Nando Times reports that pedophiles and child pornographers in the U.K. are using PGP to encrypt illegal online materials.

According to the story, pedophiles and child pornographers are using PGP to contact each other and transact business. At an Interpol conference on crime against children in London yesterday, Detective Chief Inspector Bryan Dres of the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) said use of PGP among pornographers has greatly increased over the last two years because it is available to anyone on the Net.

PGP has been the focus of intense debate over the right to export encryption technology internationally. Developer Zimmerman recently registered as an arms dealer with the U.S. Government in order to export his software.