> However, testifying this is sufficient to be not held in contempt of court, unless the government can meet a stiff burden of proof that you are lying. Which

> However, testifying this is sufficient to be not held in contempt of court, unless the government can meet a stiff burden of proof that you are lying. Which in essence is impossible in most cases, unless you are stupid enough to actually tell people that you refuse to decrypt the drive and those can then testify against you. It's all a matter of perception. It just shows how much a few words can matter a lot in a legal context, and how by saying you don't remember the password, you will walk, whereas by saying you won't give it up, you'll be held in contempt for 2+ years rotting away in a cell. Perhaps he could say he doesn't remember the password in a few years? "It's been years, it was a complex password containing a lot of characters, and I no longer know what the password is" -- that doesn't seem unreasonable.