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A US federal magistrate has refused to order a Wisconsin computer scientist and child abuse image suspect, Jeffrey Feldman, to decrypt the hard drives the government seized from him.
The rationale of Magistrate William Callahan Jr. of Wisconsin: the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution shields citizens from being compelled to self-incriminate.
Callahan wrote [PDF, posted courtesy of Wired] that, unlike in similar cases, where the government has compelled people to unlock the encrypted portions of their hard drives, in this case, Feldman hasn't admitted that he has access and control of the hardware.
This is in spite of the many storage devices in question having been found in his house, where he's lived alone for 15 years.
