http://law2.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t17t20+1050+18++... U.S. Code Title 18, Chapter 115: Sec. 2384. Seditious conspiracy If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. Sec. 2385. Advocating overthrow of Government Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof - Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.... These laws broadly forbid organizing to use force to attack the government. But the cypherpunks movement was originally conceived as a way to evade government, not to attack it. Using cryptography, people could communicate freely and avoid government regulations; they could make voluntary agreements without the government being able to interfere; they could exchange goods and services of value without the government being able to take a share. None of this involved using force in any way. At most it would make the government irrelevant by giving people the opportunity voluntarily to move their activities out of its sphere of influence. It was only when Tim May turned away from cryptography and shifted his focus to firearms and Y2K and violent fantasies of revenge that the tone of the group changed. It is very likely that many of his writings fit the definition above, being made "with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government," and "advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence". Tim May has advised us many times to kill judges and police officers, congressmen and jail guards. He has said endlessly that the U.S. government needs to be overthrown by violence. All of us will agree that such statements should be legal, on the principle of freedom of speech, even if we find the sentiments abhorrent. But these calls for violence have nothing to do with the cypherpunk movement. They don't belong here. Tim May has turned this mailing list into his personal toilet, an outlet for his impotent revenge fantasies. In doing so he has not only destroyed what was once one of the finest discussion forums in the world; he may have endangered other subscribers, if those outdated and unconstitutional laws are ever put back into force.