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by cwoac 4673 days ago
Actually the provisions of the OSA cover you even if you haven't signed it. Signing it is generally just a reminder thing, hence the fact that if you have to sign it once, you will probably end up signing it several times (when you join, when you leave, when you change roles, etc).

The OSA primarily covers how you handle secret information that you legitimately have access to. He was talking about stuff outside the scope of the OSA - i.e. when you acquire material that you shouldn't have to start with.

2 comments

Good point, but still, one still needs to just laugh at this guy. The idea tha any idea (data, knowledge) can be mis-used for terrorism is non-falsifiable hypothesis. It makes a mockery of the adverserial justice system.

Many pieces of data can be used for such purposes. Its precisely the innocence of the victims and the innocuous and everyday nature of the means, that is the purposes of this new bloody sport.

THE TERRORISTS WENT TO FRIGGIN FLIGHT SCHOOL.

We taught them how to fly a guided missile into a FRIGGIN SKYSCRAPER.

We gave the STUDENT VISAS.

Teaching people how to fly can facilitate terrorist acts. Therefore we must arrest all flight instructors.
s/flight instructors/flight manual authors, readers, flight sim writers, players, planespotters, and anyone who knows what an NACA 0012 is/
I'd say lock up everyone and let the juries sort them out but I wonder where we'd get juries in that case....
But it's not outside the scope of the OSA, necessarily - Section 5 covers the recipients of secret material leaked by a civil servant.

The current leaks are only outside of the scope of OSA because Snowden isn't a civil servant of the UK. It appears Blair wants to prevent the publication of all information considered highly embarrassing - er, I mean, 'damaging to national security' - regardless of where it came.