At 12:50 AM -0700 7/19/97, Jeremy Mineweaser wrote:
Alan <alano@teleport.com> writes:
I recieved this today via e-mail. I find it strange since I have never asked to be put on any sort of "interest list" by anyone at the IRS. Did anyone else get this?
I received a copy of this earlier today via a low-traffic mailing list devoted to discussion of prisoner's dilemma games. Upon receiving the message, the connection between PDG and Jim Bell wasn't immediately obvious, but then I remembered that Jim Bell was also a subscriber to that mailing list.
It's quite probable that the IRS sent a copy of their press release to all of the forums where they had records of Bell's involvement.
Speculating, this use of mailing lists, if true, could well be a violation of the law (I'm thinking of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the ECPA...it may place limits on what, if anything, can be done with e-mail records obtained that are not part of an original search warrrant). It certainly appears that the IRS has sent "warnings" out to all of us active in the debate. It appears they used the addresses found in e-mail at Bell's residence, from some of the comments here (especially that other lists besides the Cypherpunks list were involved). On the other hand, the relevance to Prisoner's Dilemma games is pretty obvious: "Mr. Bell, if you confess and plead guilty, you'll receive a one-year prison term. If you don't confess, when we find you guilty you'll receive the maximum term. If you confess but Mr. May _also_ confesses, you'll still receive the maximum term. If neither of you confesses, you'll still be found guilty. So, what'll it be?" --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."