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Not really, Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 already prohibits ownership of such material unless you could show that you had a legitimate reason for having it. The amendments in the new Bill are clarifying what that reason may be but not limiting it. So academic or journalistic research is now specifically listed, as is being unaware of the contents, but it still leaves open other unspecified reasons. Whether those are reasonable or not would be up to the court to decide. What this does it stop academics and journalists ending up in court for conducting legitimate research.
The wording will change from:
Originally posted by Terrorism Act 2000
58 Collection of information.
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)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
(b)he possesses a document or record containing information of that kind.
(2)In this section “record” includes a photographic or electronic record.
(3)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his action or possession.
(4)A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, to a fine or to both, or
(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both.
To
58 Collection of information.
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)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,
(b)he possesses a document or record containing information of that kind or
(c)the person views, or otherwise accesses, by means of the internet a document or record containing information of that kind.
(1A)The cases in which a person collects or makes a record for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) include (but are not limited to) those in which the person does so by means of the internet (whether by downloading the record or otherwise).
(2)In this section “record” includes a photographic or electronic record.
(3)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his action or possession.
(3A)The cases in which a person has a reasonable excuse for the purposes of subsection (3) include (but are not limited to) those in which—
(a)at the time of the person’s action or possession the person did not know, and had no reason to believe, that the document or record in question contained, or was likely to contain, information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or
(b)the person’s action or possession was for the purposes of—
(i)carrying out work as a journalist, or
(ii)academic research.
(4)A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, to a fine or to both, or
(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both.(3)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his action or possession.
"Being nice costs nothing and sometimes gets you extra bacon" - Pondlife.
Funny that I've not had the urge to blow anyone up though, isn't it?
Is that your defence? That having and keeping proscribed information that is likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism is okay, as long as you don't (currently) have the urge to blow anyone up? Good luck with that one.
Is that your defence? That having and keeping proscribed information that is likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism is okay, as long as you don't (currently) have the urge to blow anyone up? Good luck with that one.
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