Digital rights groups have called on the Dutch justice minister to
retract a proposal that would give the country's police the right to
break into computers, including foreign citizens' computers, to combat
cyber-crime.
Minister Ivo Opstelten says investigators have the right
to install Internet taps with court permission, citing the need to fight
online pedophiles. That sometimes requires breaking into computers.
But
a coalition of rights groups including the Electronic Frontier
Foundation and the Netherlands' Bits of Freedom say other countries
will likely follow suit and then attempt to enforce their own laws
abroad.
The coalition said "these local laws would not solely
address cyber-crime, but also issues deemed illegal in other countries,
such as blasphemy and political criticism."
The Dutch parliament debates the proposal this week.