Banned Research and Raids on "Secret Labs"

Tim May tcmay at got.net
Sun Jul 1 10:00:55 PDT 2001


Here's an item about the Feds banning certain types of biological 
research. More evidence that government is flexing its muscles to 
interfere in research it has decided is not acceptable...or that it 
is not controlling for its own purposes. I wonder what Thomas 
Jefferson, a noted amateur scientist, would have thought of the 
federal government raiding labs and subpoening records when it 
decided it wanted to? His cryptography research, for example? So much 
for the real spirit of the First and Fourth, amongst others.

(Note: I realize, for you lawyers, that the Fourth was technically 
met, in that a valid court order was issued for the subpoenas and 
raids. It still sucks, though, to use a nonlegal term. Warrants and 
orders are issued freely. Fishing expeditions is what they really 
are. There's not a single one of us who could not have our 
possessions and papers sifted through if one of tens of thousands of 
prosecutors and investigators decided they wanted to. So much for 
"secure in one's papers and possessions" and "a man's home is his 
castle.")

I'll include a few paragraphs, marked with <<   >> enclosers.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/010709/usnews/clone.htm

<<U.S.News 7/9/01

The God game no more
The feds crack down on a human cloning lab

By Nell Boyce and David E. Kaplan


For Brigitte Boisselier, cloning a human being isn't just good 
science -it's a religious imperative. As a trained chemist and a 
bishop of a sect that believes scientists from another planet created 
all life on Earth, Boisselier and other followers of the "Raelian" 
religion say cloning is key to humanity's future. Despite warnings 
from scientists who say such practices are fraught with potential 
health risks, some Raelians have built a secret U.S. laboratory and 
vowed to create the first human clone this year. They also believe 
the feds have no legal right to stop them.

  Washington, unsurprisingly, disagrees. U.S. News has learned that a 
federal grand jury in Syracuse, N.Y., near Boisselier's home, has 
subpoenaed telephone records and other documents in what appears to 
be an unprecedented probe into the sect's activities. Food and Drug 
Administration agents visited the lab recently and ordered any human 
cloning experiments to cease. Says one official: "There's a timeout 
in force." >>

Comment: So, someone who _says_ they are interesting in human cloning 
can face a subpoenaing of records and documents. Interesting. So much 
for free scientific inquiry.

And what's the significance of the "secret lab" language? Was it just 
the "U.S. News" reporter's take on the situation, or does having a 
"secret lab" enter into the gubment's case?

How long before we see _crypto_ treated the same way? For example:

"For Joe Cypherpunk, developing digital money isn't just good 
science, it's an imperative. Not surprising, Washington disagrees. A 
federal grand jury in Sunnyvale, CA has subpoenaed telephone records 
and other documents. FCC, SEC, and FBI agents visited the secret lab 
recently and ordered any digital money experiments to cease. Says one 
official: "There's a timeout in force.""

(Oh, so now we have "timeouts" for banned research? So much for 
another of the rights enumerated in the BOR, the right to a trial. 
Yeah, I know about temporary injunctions and restraining orders, 
given exigent circumstances, blah blah. This sounds more like the 
harassment and road block issue, though. A "crackdown," as the 
reporter notes below.)


<< The crackdown marks the first time that investigators have 
uncovered a secret lab tied to human cloning in the United States, 
government sources say. >>

Oooh, scary! A "secret lab"! What, all labs are supposed to be 
public, registering with the government? (There is no evidence the 
lab is using more dangerous chemicals than are normally found in any 
hardware store, for example, so "public safety" cannot be a 
justification.)

The article goes on to talk about Clonaid and how they are not 
violating any laws, but how they plan to leave the U.S. to avoid this 
kind of "raid" harassment.

<< The federal investigation was prompted by statements Boisselier 
made this spring, when she said Clonaid was just weeks away from 
being ready to clone a human being. On March 27, Boisselier received 
a letter from the FDA, warning that the company might be in violation 
of FDA regulations. A similar letter was hand-delivered to the office 
of Panayiotis Zavos, a fertility expert from Lexington, Ky., who also 
says he plans to clone a human.>>

Yeah, and if I "claim" that I am "just weeks away" from being ready 
to release a digital money system, can I expect a raid?  Is there no 
consideration of common sense, or are prosecutors just flunkouts in 
science who can't separate speech acts from actual violations of the 
law?

I can see there may be public safety issues in cases where, for 
example, a credible group--leave the definition of credible aside for 
now--makes a claim that they are weeks away from completing their own 
privately-funded atomic bomb, for example. Or weeks away from 
completing a batch of nerve gas.

Some variants of libertarians and anarchists would disagree even with 
this, but at least the point is arguable. The issue of whether human 
cloning research is so intrinsically sensitive or dangerous that it 
requires preemptive raids and fishing expeditions is a topic worth 
discussing. For now, I'm pointing out some of the disturbing 
constitutional issues.

<< UFOs. But it was the Raelians who really got the FDA's attention. 
For months, Boisselier has told reporters that she has three 
scientists and a physician trying to resurrect an 11-month-old 
infant-the deceased son of a former state legislator, whom the 
Raelians refuse to identify-through genetic regeneration. >>

Again, science flunkouts are running the investigations.


<< Clearly, the agency is trying to flex its regulatory muscle and 
show Congress that it hasn't been asleep at the switch. FDA 
investigators have been knocking on the doors of people like Richard 
Seed, a Chicago physicist who made headlines three years ago when he 
announced his intention to clone a human. "I think their purpose was 
to frighten me, and they did," says Seed. >>

Yep. So much for the rule of law, and of valid laws.

Consistent with crypto actions, as when NSA agents told Jim Bidzos 
that if he didn't play ball and adopt Big Brother's plans, they could 
just have him run over in his parking lot.

(Threats like this, which are credible and violent threats, are not 
prosecuted. Meanwhile, Keith Henson faces a year in prison for a 
joking remark about a "Tom Cruise Missile" aimed at a Scientology 
compound. Some country we live in, eh?)


<< ... Alex Capron, professor of law and medicine at the University 
of Southern California told Congress last month. Capron points out 
that the FDA is charged with regulating safety concerns only. >>

Indeed, and banning research or raiding "secret labs"--especially 
those with access to classified UFO data from the Greys living in 
Area 51!--is NOT a function of a regulatory agency devoted to the 
efficacy and safety of drugs and foodstuffs.

<< Even if a law were passed in the United States, it could prove 
difficult to enforce because cloning operations are easy to hide. 
Zavos, for example, says he knows of at least two other groups 
quietly trying to clone a human. Would-be cloners need only basic lab 
equipment. "It's not like it's a magical, secret thing," says Mark 
Westhusin of Texas A&M University, who works on cloning animals. A 
ban may also simply encourage scientists to pursue their work abroad, 
as Boisselier plans to. Zavos says his team has already set up two 
clandestine labs overseas. >>

Yep. All predictable trends. Blacknet has had an active human cloning 
special interest section for several years.


--Tim May




-- 
Timothy C. May         tcmay at got.net        Corralitos, California
Political: Co-founder Cypherpunks/crypto anarchy/Cyphernomicon
Technical: physics/soft errors/Smalltalk/Squeak/agents/games/Go
Personal: b.1951/UCSB/Intel '74-'86/retired/investor/motorcycles/guns





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