Greetings: This weekend I finished reading a novel that talks about many of the issues of interest to this group. It's Christopher Reich, "Numbered Account," Delacorte Press. The author was a real Swiss banker for a few years. Now he writes a pretty darn good suspense novel featuring how numbered Swiss bank accounts work. In the cryptography debates, the FBI makes a big deal about how anonymous bank accounts can be used by drug smugglers, money launderers, international arms merchants, and anti-Western terrorists. They're all here in the novel. So are the U.S. government agents -- a bit bumbling, thoroughly obnoxious and self-righteous, but also genuinely concerned about stopping truly bad people. Reich also talks a bit about a new crypto system the bank develops for handling secret transactions. I think the book works pretty well as a story. It also gives human faces to the issues of bank secrecy, money laundering, and anonymous accounts. If we are to find ways to have anonymity in cyberspace, we will have to confront the bad things that anonymity can bring. I'd be interested to hear anyone else's reactions to the book. More generally, what do you say to well-intentioned people when they say the following -- won't anonymous accounts contribute, at least a bit, to more drug smuggling, arms smuggling, and international terrorism? [Please, no flames. I am writing an academic article this summer on money laundering and financial privacy. Money laundering laws hold the potential to choke off cryptography and financial privacy generally. How can supporters of privacy best answer back to the calls for stricter regulation?] Peter Swire Prof. Peter Swire Ohio State University College of Law (614) 292-2547 http://www.osu.edu/units/law/swire.htm (includes draft book on European Privacy Directive and Internet Privacy Page)