At 11:37 PM -0800 1/7/98, jalonz@openworld.com wrote:
Notice the words "criminal investigations"? God forbid talent could actually be used for a good cause. The incidents in question were actually quite serious (Chinese mafia money laundering via phony real estate deals) and not at all like the porno bbs confiscation crap you'd be thinking of.
And what is morally wrong with "money laundering"? Seems to me a person's money is his to do with it as he pleases...it's only governments that call some actions "money laundering." Just as they call some speech "information laundering." And do you think your "Digital Society" notion (which we've seen many times before, usually involving floating, offshore entities) will somehow not attract or involve "Chinese mafia money launderers"? Do you plan to implement key escrow so you can monitor what your residents are doing with each other? Do you plan to become a floating police state so as to stop this evil "money laundering"? I don't think you've quite grasped the significance of strong crypto and cyberspace. (For starters, an intentional community in cyberspace, situated in no particular country, and backed by strong crypto, digital escrow systems (real escrow, of course), reputation systems, etc. is a far better place to do business of certain sorts than is "Jalon'sWorld.") I suspect that Guy is right, that your "Digital Society" shtick is just the latest in your long series of "new businesses" started in many places in the country. --Tim May The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^2,976,221 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."