Cypherpunks as a Continuing Criminal Enterprise?
Could our group be charged as a "continuing criminal enterprise" under the RICO statute? It occurs to me that if Carl Johnson, who is linked several times to our group/list in the court documents, is successfully prosecuted,then the Feds may be able to cite both Bell and Johnson as evidence of a conspiracy. Which probably wouldn't be too hard to prove, as many of us have admitted to conspiring mightily to undermine various institutions. (And we even use encypted e-mail, the very essence of a secret conspiracy.) It might be fun to see them try this. Would they charge some of us as ringleaders? Or would they declare the entity itself an illegal organization? (As they have done with various cultural, political, and even religous groups, like Hezbollah, the Aum religion, etc.) Interesting times. --Tim May "The tree of liberty must be watered periodically with the blood of tyrants...." ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- 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, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments.
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Tim May