In which encryption is banned and a company collapses.

BRISTOL, UK – TinCan Co., a company specialising in software based around encryption, has formally closed today. Although the Parliament ruling to ban the use of encryption came into force last week, the company has taken some time to close its now-illegal services and assist its 50,000 employees through the shutdown.

TinCan’s most well-known product was the String messaging app, although it also provided a variety of other secure services, mostly aimed at corporations. String, however, became hugely successful with everyday consumers. The success of the platform and the disaster of the company’s closure have been pointed to by many as reasons to oppose the encryption ban, but the ability for anyone to use it has also been used as an argument for it. The prime minister specifically spoke out against it, claiming that the end of secure messaging will “contribute massively to the prevention of organised terrorism”.

Stephen Rylan, the former head of TinCan, gave a speech at what the company called its “closing ceremony”. “I’m going to be honest here. The encryption ban is the worst decision ever made by this country’s government,” he announced, “Has it stopped terrorism and cyberattacks? No. Has it caused millions of job losses, threatened the future of the United Kingdom, and helped criminals? Yes. Do the people who made this decision care? Of course not. They’re going to keep insisting that this was the right decision, and all their brainwashing, along with the entire country, is going to come crashing down around them.”

“Now I’m going to have to move on with my life and leave this all behind. It’s a shame String never took off overseas or I could have taken TinCan somewhere else.”

However, despite his strong words, Rylan failed to create any significant uprising against the encryption ban. The many companies that relied on TinCan’s software have been left angry and without support, although the failure of July’s internet blackout has dampened any potential protests. This may officially be the end of TinCan, but it is still possible it will appear again.