Net users concerned as new law grants 'right to snoop' on email.

Think that the emails you send are safe from prying eyes? Think again.

At the end of last month the RIP Bill was passed through the House of Commons. The RIP Act - or Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, to give it its full name - gives the government the right to snoop into anybody's email accounts or home pages.

Attacked by Elizabeth France, the Data Protection Commissioner, as a breach of people's right to privacy, the RIP Bill is causing much consternation within the Internet community, not least because of the extra expense it will cause Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Jack Straw justifies the move by claiming the act is necessary to fight organised crime, hooliganism and paedophile rings, all of whom have been known to co-ordinate their activity on-line.

This is very true, yet the move appears reactionary and rushed.

The RIP Act is law, but those affected by it are not happy, and the government knows this. The Department of Trade and Industry is now working on secondary legislation to curb the more controversial aspects of the bill, and a new Code of Practice is being prepared to describe how the measures outlined in the bill could best be introduced by ISPs.

The government claims to have ensured that representatives from the Internet industry have been present throughout the drafting of the bill, yet during the two months preceding the act becoming law the British Chamber of Commerce attacked the bill and two major ISPs threatened to move off-shore if the bill got through.

To appease the critics, the government hinted that ISPs will receive around £20m to help with extra costs incurred by RIP, and the Act only made it through the House of Lords with major amendments.

Yet this doesn't hide the fact that the RIP Act was pushed through against industry recommendation, with little concern for the economical impact it would have on the industry. It even started life hidden deep within the DTI's electronic communications bill, where it could have become law without anybody understanding the ramifications.

Again, the Internet's infancy means that even the Government doesn't know how to treat it.