Tim G. May *DID*NOT* write:

"When all you have is a gun, everything looks like a target."

Tim G. May There's something wrong when I'm limping on a decreasing number of toes ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This post is selflessly copyrighted under the auspices of the Electronic Bad Forgery Foundation (TM). ~~~~ {This probably means it's Toto again. Check the headers.} ~~~~ "Imitation is the sincerest form of forgery." -----------------------------------------------------------------------

This is obviously a bad forgery. (It's a *good* bad forgery, however. I almost thought I did it myself.) The giveaway in this forgery is the fact that I actually work for the "Bad Forgery Department" of the B.F. Deal Record Company, Austin, TX. Tim G. May There's something wrong when I'm a forger under an increasing number of duplicitous schiziod breaks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This post is selflessly copyrighted under the auspices of the Bad Forgery Department, B.F. Deal (TM). ~~~~ {Has anyone seen my medicine? -- Toto} ~~~~ "Imitation is the sincerest form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder." -----------------------------------------------------------------------

I usually can't understand more than 5% of what John writes, but then I was never very good at Blake, Coleridge, and all those DWM dudes. But I think I understand this paragraph: At 9:10 AM -0700 8/21/97, John Young wrote:

Now, to move on to the day's news: Is Tim going to be kidnapped by a gang of mixed breed cops and ammo merchants, shot instantly and chained in dugout till his loved redeems his maggoty carcass by redistributing his nestegg? That's the topic of the NYT's lead business story today, the need for secret ransom insurance, so secret that it does not make you a free-for-taking target like the usual unwise display of peacockery.

Like the game of chicken, it pays to look like a madman. Strangelovian logic, but valid. If attackers _think_ a victim will pay a ransom, or relatives will, or that hostage/ransom demands will be met, the result is both more such events "overall" (which is usually not a concern we as individualists have), but also an increased probability of kidnapping/terrorism in the first place. Fairly classical game theory, with mix-ins specifically of the tragedy of the commons ("everyone negotiates") and the iterated prisoner's dilemma ("let's all agree not to negotiate," except many "defect" from the pact). Interestingly, many of the strategies for moving assets offshore, to offshore banks and money havens, is not so much to evade taxes as to "protect assets." Protect them from ransom/extortion demands of the _legal profession_ sort, e.g., "deep pockets" lawsuits. For example, somebody finds out that J. Random Cypherpunk is financially well off--perhaps from the increasing number of online credit report records, etc.--and decides to have a convenient "fall" on his property. He then sues for some large amount, either covered by Homeowner's Insurance, or more. (Think this is paranoia? Look into "deep pockets," Lerach, and the escalation of such lawsuits.) Not to mention lawsuits by ex-spouses (or even current spouses, who want a bigger cut of the action). This is part of what Duncan talks about with his points about "judgment proofing" oneself. (Two main ways to do this: have few assets, and rent cars, keep residence somewhat secret. Or, move assets beyond the grasp of the court system. Both have advantages and disadvantages.) Unsurprisingly, such attempts to hide assets, even if not done for tax evasion reasons!!!, are looked at unkindly by the authorities, who would like it much better if all assets were visible to them and hence pluckable on various pretexts. The restrictions on banking privacy--named in true Orwellian fashion, the "Bank Privacy Act"--can be seen as moves to force all assets out into the open. And the whole "discovery" process in divorce and civil cases, where even private diaries and personal papers must be produced for perusal by various parties, is a shameful abrogation of Fourth Amendment protections. That a court has duly ordered the turning over of diaries, letters, records, etc. is no excuse. (When I was at Intel we were urged to never write down anything which could be used against the company in a lawsuit. Increasingly this meant "don't write anything down on paper" unless it is neutral and bland. I understand things have since gotten even more paranoid, and that this is a common practice. Under "discovery," literally tons of records can be ordered up, including Day-Timers, scratchpad notes, archives of e-mail, etc. Technical solutions abound, of course, such as hosting the archives in offshore locations, or using strong crypto....and "forgetting" the key. This, obviously, is yet another reason the authorities want "key recovery.")

Hide it if you got it, hide your lush affiliations too, the poor reporters advise, or the world's scum with nothing else to do but watch and wait are gonna snag your unsmart ass when you least expect it, now as in ages past, unless, to be sure, more scum-world guardians are hired and more big-nuke prayerbooks and ransom policys are arsenaled bedside, 4X, ankle and thigh.

Not sure what this means, but hiding assets is becoming harder, not easier. Strong crypto may someday reverse this, but it sure ain't the case today. (Don't anybody waste their or my time with penny ante ideas for getting small amounts of money out of the country.) --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."

John Young wrote:

gturk wrote:

...

You must be referring to the Cult of Redistribution.

Tis true that as these accusatory options for blaming others are displayed here, it becomes hard to tell who's potshotting from what shifting position to gain better fire lines at friend and foe and own foot.

"When all you have is a gun, everything looks like a target." Tim G. May There's something wrong when I'm limping on a decreasing number of toes ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This post is selflessly copyrighted under the auspices of the Electronic Bad Forgery Foundation (TM). ~~~~ {This probably means it's Toto again. Check the headers.} ~~~~ "Imitation is the sincerest form of forgery." -----------------------------------------------------------------------

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- At 01:00 PM 8/21/97 -0700, Tim May wrote:

Interestingly, many of the strategies for moving assets offshore, to offshore banks and money havens, is not so much to evade taxes as to "protect assets." Protect them from ransom/extortion demands of the _legal profession_ sort, e.g., "deep pockets" lawsuits. For example, somebody finds out that J. Random Cypherpunk is financially well off--perhaps from the increasing number of online credit report records, etc.--and decides to have a convenient "fall" on his property. He then sues for some large amount, either covered by Homeowner's Insurance, or more.

Foreign Asset Protection Trusts (FAPTs) have indeed become popular for protection against general lawsuit and dom rel liabilities. As long as not done in contemplation of bankruptcy, such transfers remain legal. Another popular reason is privacy in general. US domestic accounts can be examined by any federal, state, or local government employee who can sign his name to a subpeona. Any lawyer can also examine account records in the course of discovery proceedings. There are some limits to the above powers but not very substantial limits. For all we know, FINCEN has a nice Win32- based point and click browser that can tiptoe through every bank and brokerage account in America. If they don't have one yet, I'm sure they are trying to get one. If domestic lawyers or governments want the same sort of access to accounts in other jurisdictions, they have to spend many thousands of dollars and months or years of personnel time. Cuts down on their capabilities. DCF -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0 Charset: noconv iQCVAwUBNALw/oVO4r4sgSPhAQE/9gP+NNns8O2bGM4gXa6gXQEGtTPzmAbpphVG DgKKn8/+PIK71TINx9bNQylur3Dqj6jiquQT8gKgx4D7oW5H2LHEK/V5mHrHB+e0 zLe3KrdSKfGYQoYLzMG5/WLftGYFVzDPNL+WDkEzQrzgBk+Ac4y1wTbvar8UL2nR XNlVHqw0cPE= =9cgI -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----