From: karn@qualcomm.com (Phil Karn)
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 93 22:12:19 PDT
To: Duncan Frissell <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: Re: Digital Cash$$$$
Message-ID: <9306230512.AA11503@qualcomm.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 04:09 PM 6/14/93 EDT, Duncan Frissell wrote:

> 
>        1.)     You mail cash/MO to First Digital Bank of Cyberspace (at an
>offshore
>        maildrop) together with a public (unique if you like) key and anonymous
>email
>        address (on Julf's remailer perhaps).

Recall that the US has money-laundering laws that require you to file a
form every time you move $10,000 or more in or out of the country. If the
First Digital Bank of Cyberspace is offshore, it could come under these
laws, at least with respect to priming your account with real money.

It's an interesting question whether they could then get you for sending
more than $10,000 of digital cash across the border without filing the
form. It's even more interesting if you encrypt all these cross-border
transactions...

Another wonderful set of laws we can credit to the "war on drugs".

Phil