Silicon.com reports that police and Internet service providers (ISP) in the UK have started working together to combat crime on the Internet. Private seminars held behind closed doors later this month aim to identify which electronic evidence could - and should - be made available to police investigating a crime. Detective chief superintendent Keith Akerman, chair of the Computer Crime Group set up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), said:

We aim to cover all crimes. We will publish working guidelines on how evidence is gathered, its integrity, and its presentation in court

The actual content of emails is expected to remain private, in all circumstances, in line with Akerman's statement that the new guidelines will follow the Data Protection Act's existing laws for telephone operators. Those laws state that police may access details of the timing of a phone call, and who participated, but not the content of the call. "Content is not at issue here," Akerman added.

The emotive issue of child pornography and internet 'grooming' represented the biggest headache for ISPs. While they would never wish to be seen to be condoning such crimes, they risked a serious backlash if they were to implement the more wide-ranging surveillance and monitoring measures which would have been required.