-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 At 2003-05-03 17:32 +0000, Tim May wrote:
But the point is not to predict some withering away of the state. The point is that unfettered communication, with the already-extant ability to use all sorts of alternative financial instruments (offshore accounts, PayPal, E-gold, etc.), is already producing interesting changes in the way the world works.
Interesting changes in this case means executive orders and increasing harassment of individuals by financial institutions, which are simultaneously forced to comply with continuously constricting regulations and rules, not to mention a vague and exploding "watchlist" of restricted entities and individuals. To wit http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sdn/sdnlist.txt rtsp://167.216.132.211:554/cspan/ndrive/ter102802_aba.rm (2:19:00) rtsp://167.216.132.211:554/cspan/ndrive/ter102802_aba2.rm (3:11:44) a brief/pedantic overview of the first part of the second realmedia file above: If you transact with a major financial institution and the transaction looks suspicious to them, SARs (Suspicious Activity Report) and CTRs (Currency Transaction Report) can now be filed online (theoretically meaning instantaneously) with FinCEN and Treasury's OFAC via forms signed/encrypted with certificates issued by http://www.aces.att.com/. It's called PACS (Patriot Act Communication System - isn't it cute - http://pacs.treas.gov/index.jsp), and those reports are analyzed by the Detroit data processing center of, you guessed it, the IRS. Fun for the whole family. (incidental industry note for terms in the videos: BSA = banking secrecy act, AML = Anti-Money Laundering) - -- Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things. --Rumsfeld, 2003-04-11 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.2rc2 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAj60K4QACgkQnH0ZJUVoUkMx7gCffxH1NVveUkTcxOOza4tNAUb8 dtkAnRpxlr11xT1s6HMpVjv43zkgO3uS =QM32 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----