I forgot - did someone say they keep cash & extra phone in a safe deposit box (pre paid or contract? Contract phone is no use in a police crack down)? If a deposit box, judge could freeze that too, so better hide it in someone else's house. And what are they gonna say about that? "I need to hide a phone, money, gun, etc. in your basement." Even though I might think some of it's vaguely similar to preparing for a hurricane, most of my family would have me committed. Though I empathize w/ him (read below), if William hasn't been charged w/ ANY thing, there's not much need for a full legal team - just yet. Sure, he's sweating bullets - innocent or not. But that doesn't translate into spending huge $ right now. An attorney can't do anything (if he's truly innocent) unless there are at least some charges to start thinking about a defense; they arrest him, etc. Unless William's goal is to get his equip back quickly. A lawyer could file motions, but probably wouldn't do much good - at least for now. It does appear that one in his situation would be building a defense fund before there is anything to defend against. Now, if he could promise to pay everyone back, proportionally, for what wasn't used for defense... but how could one do that? How would we make them, if they decided not to? What if the defense fund is needed because he actually did something illegal (not necessarily porn)? I agree, that in these VERY beginning stages, a guy w/ the credentials he's presented, should have the means to pay an attorney for an hr or 2, to tell him what to do / not to do, until such time that he's arrested, charges are filed, etc., (if ever). Right now, that's all he needs. *How do I know?* Cause I was put in a similar situation - of the *possibility* I might have to defend myself against false charges - unrelated to issues in this case. I got basic advice on what to do / not do for now; have cash for bail bond, in unlikely event I was arrested. (Believe me, they could've arrested me & asked questions later). Then, nothing to do but wait... and wait. Nerve racking. Lost bunch of weight when needed to gain some. But, didn't need bunch of money. I didn't have equipment or belongings seized, but police never "told" me anything later on, like, "We're not filing charges;" "the DA isn't referring this to a Grand Jury." Nothing, nada. No, "Sorry we came to your house w/ no justification & threatened you." No arresting the other person that made false accusations, even though there were witnesses. Even then, I only needed a lawyer to advise me of basic rights, of prudent behavior till something did / did not develop, etc. No giant defense fund needed. The whole thing just... disappeared. How much is 10,000 EU anyway - $100 USD? There's a reason I'd never run a Tor exit or probably relay. I'd like to. If raided, I could never take the stress. Too old now, w/ chronic health issues. Plus I wouldn't want to spend my retirement savings hiring lawyers, if things got really ugly. And people call me paranoid... I should get started on my dooms day supplies & cash. I don't know where to keep it. We live in hurricane territory & you have to prepare way in advance of knowing whether the storm will hit nearby, or it's too late. _______________________________________________ tor-talk mailing list tor-talk@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-talk ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE