At 4:07 PM -0700 4/15/01, Ray Dillinger wrote:
On Sun, 15 Apr 2001, Declan McCullagh wrote:
At 02:06 PM 4/15/01 -0700, Ray Dillinger wrote:
When you talk about a one-time transaction, it pretty much has to involve something whose value can be ascertained ON THE SPOT. otherwise, there is either a continuing relationship that can't be unilaterally broken (ie, they know where you live) or there is
I think this is a bit short-sighted.
Assume there is an anonymous seller who has established reputation capital over time for small transactions on the order of pennies. I may be willing to risk a ten-cent transaction (to purchase an illicit MP3 or somesuch) if the perceived reward is sufficient. If I am successful and word spreads that the seller is to be trusted, the amount people will be willing to risk larger amounts will presumably increase.
And your possible motive for spreading the word about his reputation, which ties you to an illicit transaction, is what exactly?
Bear
Ray, or "Bear," you really need to think about these things more deeply. There are many ways in which a buyer can signal approval...without even linking himself to a specific transaction. (Which is likely, in this "ten-cent transction" to be of any interest to LE anyway.) A simple assertion of the form "I recommend Danny the Dealer" is not a statement implicating the speaker in any illicit transaction which is prosecutable. You once said you were a law student...unless I'm misremembering. If so, how could you make such an elementary error? There are other ways to make the same "word spreads" endorsements, too. From a nym, in an article, etc. As to why someone like Declan might _want_ to help spread the word, there are multiple reasons: to encourage more such reputable dealers, to discourage bad dealers, as a kind of "attaboy" for the good dealings, and so on. Isn't this all pretty obvious? --Tim May -- Timothy C. May tcmay@got.net Corralitos, California Political: Co-founder Cypherpunks/crypto anarchy/Cyphernomicon Technical: physics/soft errors/Smalltalk/Squeak/agents/games/Go Personal: b.1951/UCSB/Intel '74-'86/retired/investor/motorcycles/guns