On Sun, 16 Jul 1995, Timothy C. May wrote:
At 12:59 PM 7/16/95, Andrew Spring wrote:
ranked as a mobster subject to RICO. My guess is that the intent is that from one placement on an FTP server or one posting to a newsgroup, the perpetrator of that heinous act will have passed his RICO qualification and therefore be subject to having all he owns taken from him.
RICO question: i thought that the idea of RICO is to confiscate assets of racketeers that are derived from criminal activities. PGP and remailer software is distributed free. so would RICO seizures even apply (yes I know this doesnt' always stop the FBI)?
As I understand RICO (Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, though the euphonious "Rico," a la South American drug kingpins, is the real reason for the name), only the assets imputed to the illegal act can be seized. Thus, boats, factories, houses, etc., that are imputed (believed, claimed) to have been bought partially or wholly from funds from illegal acts can be seized.
Assets directly traceable to criminal activity can be forfeited in a civil proceeding. "Substitute assets" (when the assets obtained directly from the criminal activity have been dissipated or just can't be found) can be forfeited in a criminal forfeiture (that is, as part of an indictment...).
Civil penalties are another matter. If you're charged with distributing something illegal and a fine of $250,000 is levied, then you may have to sell everything you own to pay it, but it's not a RICO seizure.
--Tim May
EBD