At 2:27 PM -0600 12/30/96, Omegaman wrote:
On Sun, 29 Dec 1996, Steve Schear wrote:
I doubt the Executive order can be interpreted to mean U.S. citizens cannot purchase stocks of foreign companies engaged in crypto. There are many companies (e.g., NEC, Siemans, Philips, ect.) which engage in development of crypto equipment which would not be exportable if they were produced in the U.S. Can the gov't deny us the right to invest in these and other offshore companies?
You doubt but are you sure? Potential investors are unsure as well. The executive order has a "chilling effect" on such investments, and could affect their actual stock value.
And I think that a prosecutor who _wished_ to make an example of someone could use the new regs to indeed go after someone who made an "investment" in the stock of a foreign company! An investment is clearly exactly what the regs mention. Now, obviously, all prosecutions have _costs_, and prosecution of someone for buying $10,000 worth of stock in a large European or Japanese company doing frowned-upon crypto work would be unlikely...unless that person was Phil Zimmermann or someone else the feds want zapped. But many investments are for much larger amounts...if someone invests $200K in the stock of a company doing frowned upon work, the government might well decide to prosecute. That the regs clearly give them the authority to prosecute is the key. The essence of a terror state is that one never knows when the hammer will fall. This "FUD" (aka "random reinforcement") keeps the sheeple in line. --Tim May Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside" We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- 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."