Just so that you know how those monster BBC bonuses are justified

This from Cryptome :

If you worked in a BBC Newsroom you would have received this ;

To: Newsg UK All; Newsroom-All; News Programmes - all
Cc: Jenny Baxter
Subject: RIPA - important guidance

Newsgathering advice re Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

The ECU is upholding a complaint against BBC News for describing the above Act as a piece of "anti-terrorism legislation" which was passed "in 2000 as the threat of global terrorism was on the rise". Please refrain from using these phrases in future coverage of the Act as the first is wrong, the second is misleading.

The purpose of the act was to give legal structure to surveillance following the introduction of the Human Rights Act. The surveillance was aimed at serious criminals and, though terrorists would fall into the category, it is wrong to describe this as anti-terror legislation.

Equally RIPA was passed at a time when British law enforcement agencies were more concerned with potential threats from dissident IRA followers than a more global threat so it is misleading to imply that global terror was a significant factor in prompting the legislation.

Should you need to describe the purpose of the Act in brief terms it would be better to say it "covers all sorts of serious crime".

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UPDATE Thursday 3.00 pm BST : Readers are advised to look at Head of Legal and attached letter from kebab addict Jacqui Smith to Trevor Phillips.