Man jailed until he unlocks encrypted hard drives in child abuse images case

The article implies that he definitely knows the password to unlock the drives but chooses not to do so. In that case it seems reasonable that you can put someone in jail until they comply, because you know that they can comply should they choose to do so. I assume he is thinking that the judge will have to let him go eventually, and the time he will have served will be less than the jail time imposed for the material that would be found on the drive. He might be wrong in the calculation!

It would have been more interesting if he had claimed to have forgotten the password. Even though no one would believe he had really forgotten it, you are then placing someone in jail indefinitely until they do something that they claim is impossible to comply with.

Can you jail someone for refusing to comply with a request that is not possible for them to comply with? I would suggest it is not moral to do that.

But the fact everyone knows he really can comply, but you cannot prove that he can comply, adds the interesting complication.

Looks like one of the best DoS vectors against a person: just hide an encrypted drive in his house and produce one or two people who claim to have witnessed he/she a) saves illegal files on that drive and b) knows the password. Boom, person gone forever.