At 8:37 AM -0700 9/10/97, Attila T. Hun wrote:

NYT lead article today indicates Clinton bowing to LEOs to:

...gain broad access to patients' medical records, with hardly any restrictions on use or redisclosure of the data.

"We recommend that providers and payers be permitted to rely on the statement of law-enforcement officials that an inquiry meets these standards," the administration says....

Just routine developments in the latter stages of the American Imperial New World Order. Government can tie in to the networks of medical data as an aid to tracking citizen-units, as a means of ferreting out pseudonyms, and as a means of gathering dossier data. J. Edgar Hoover would have loved it. They won't need "don't ask, don't tell" when they have the complete medical records of us all. And they'll have the background they need to pressure recalcitrant senators who don't support their programs. And so on. (And the citizen-units will be powerles to protest...hospitals are forced to participate in various statist programs, and are essentially powerless to turn away patients with HMO and insurance programs, thus pulling all hospitals into The Program. And in the War on Drugs Age, any doctor who takes only cash is almost certain to have his license yanked by the government-approved and -mandated Official Guild.)

The administration proposal would not require law-enforcement agencies to get court orders or to notify patients when they seek medical records. Patients would not be assured of an opportunity to challenge the disclosure of their files, though the records could later be used against them in investigations or prosecutions.

fourth amendment mean _anything_ to these petty dictators? has the US become just another bananna republic at the interest of the power brokers? are we stretching the idea of a republic a bit thin?

The Fourth is being shredded every day in every way. Probably the justification here is that the records are not in the possession of the target. (Recall the usual discussions that if Alice knows something about Bob, and Big Brother wants it, Alice cannot assert a Fourth Amendment protection on behalf of the information about Bob. Same applies, and will eventually apply, to forcing all merchants to maintain databases of who buys what, and then transferring those records nightly, or hourly to the Feds' computers. The Fourth will not be usable.) This is a very important issue. The "secure in one's papers and possessions" language of the 4th is practically meaningless in today's world: most of one's important papers and records are not stored locally in one's home. Rather, hospital records, phone records, credit records, travel arrangements, gun purchase records, and so on, are stored with various hospitals, phone companies, merchants, credit reporting entities, airlines, car rental companies, hotels, landlords, mortgage companies, etc. They cannot argue the Fourth on one's behalf (nor do they care to, usually). Can a contract help? If I contract with Hertz Car Rental that my True Name not be given out, will this help? It may help in stopping Hertz from selling my name to mailing list sellers, or from having them notify the local newspaper that I will be in town (were I to be famous), but it won't stop a subpoena. The trend is moving swiftly toward having these service providers provide data automatically, routinely, as with the airlines linking their reservations system to various government data bases, even absent a specific crime or terrorist event. Expect within 10 years to see hotel and other such services required to have proof of True Names, and with such records linked to government computers on a nightly (or even realtime) basis. The main protection for this is _cash_. But an increasing number of places will not take cash. (Let's not get off on a tangent about what "legal tender" is; if Alice says she will only take credit cards or checks, then Bob is bound by this.)

"Our recommendations accommodate the interests of law enforcement rather well," said an administration official who helped draft the proposal. "The Justice Department got almost everything it wanted."

THIS is what is wrong with the US! the courts have become adversarial playgrounds for the prosecutors for the benefit of the "state" the old rule used to be if you were _charged_ by the Feds, start plea bargaining --if you go to court, the sentence will triple. just "fuck" the concept of innocent until proven guilty, or 'hey, man, you were arrested, weren't you?'

Yes, this is what "plea bargaining" is used for. Sentencing guidelines have been puffed out, and those entering the legal system are strongly incentivized to cop a plea. (One need only look to the case of Jim Bell. Recall that he took a plea, but his sentencing was held off for 5 or 6 months, instead of being given right on the spot, as it should have been, to enable him to sing like a canary. I know some folks who may have grounds for worry that indictments are being prepared against them.)

TIME FOR THE INTERMOUNTAIN EMPIRE TO SECEDE FROM THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT IN WASHINGTON.

Yep, the so-called militia movement, or patriot group, is gaining a big bounce out of this. (It's not for me, though. The Militia of Monterey is big into saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and that sticks in my craw. ) --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."