From: njohnson@easynet.com (N. D. Johnson)
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 94 15:29:02 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Privacy Digest
In-Reply-To: <9411262253.AA00381@carbon.informix.com>
Message-ID: <m0rBWk5-0002IvC@easynet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text



Critias:
> Many people around the world offer services that are convenient
> if one wishes to prevent the government from learning about your
> financial activities, but they do not advertise "Hey, come to us
> to cheat taxes and evade controls" because if they did it would 
> diminish their usefulness, both to those of their clients that 
> are using them to avoid taxes, and to those of their clients who
> use them for other purposes.

How does this follow?  I actually makes no sense.  With better advertising
they would have more customers, more volume, lower overhead, and thus
lower prices.  Just like any other business.

I think rather, a tradition of obscurity has built up, because the
offshore havens are based obscure legal legerdemain that requires
stiff legal fees.  If a business catering to the upper middle class
rather than the wealthy were set up, this would require blowing away
a lot of the legal obscurity, which the lawyers and fraudsters (who
take full advantage of the fine print) are loathe to do.

He who dares to cut through the webs of legal bullshit and 
governmental censorship of offshore techniques will upen up a
tremendous market and shake the foundataions of the planet.

N.D. Johnson