At 10:31 AM 8/7/94 -0700, Eric Hughes wrote:

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There are two legal problems that I could see being used against digital cash. The first is the civil war era prohibition on banks issuing private bank notes.

It seems to me that one could just as easily treat digicash as securities denominated in dollars, [etc.]

It didn't occur to me before, but you could also have 'nonbank notes'. If the issuer isn't a bank, does the regulation still apply?

OK. Your question has two parts. First, Eric, what exactly do you mean by 'nonbank notes'. Like the kind issued by corporations in the money markets, or Amex Traveller's Checks?. Second, we need a lawyer. This is a good thing, 'cause a you can't hack laws without a lawyer (most of the time, anyway...), and (ObThreadRelevance) we need one to pitch this stuff to other lawyers (regulators, et. al.) anyway... In search of Vinnie "the Pro" Bono, honorable second cousin of the esteemed mayor of Palm Springs, Bob Hettinga ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com) "There is no difference between someone Shipwright Development Corporation who eats too little and sees Heaven and 44 Farquhar Street someone who drinks too much and sees Boston, MA 02331 USA snakes." -- Bertrand Russell (617) 323-7923