From: "Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law" <froomkin@law.miami.edu>
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 11:47:36 -0700 (PDT)
To: "David J. Phillips" <djphill@umich.edu>
Subject: Re: When did Mondex ever claim to be anonymous?
In-Reply-To: <199610251410.KAA17470@rodan.rs.itd.umich.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.95.961025144740.28986L-100000@viper.law.miami.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


I believe you will find much of what you want at 

http://www.privacy.org/pi/activities/mondex/

which describes the trading standards complaint filed in the UK, and
largely upheld by the UK government; the complainant alleged Mondex was
saying it was anonymous when it was not.

See also, 

http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin/articles/oceanno.htm#xtocid583129

for a discussion of Mondex (surrounded by a discussion of its
competitors).  The article was written prior to the decision referenced
above.

On Fri, 25 Oct 1996, David J. Phillips wrote:

> Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 10:10:16 -0400
> From: "David J. Phillips" <djphill@umich.edu>
> To: cypherpunks@toad.com, e$@vmeng.thumper.com, dcsb@ai.mit.edu
> Subject: When did Mondex ever claim to be anonymous?
> 
> I've been researching the ways in which new payment systems incorporate
> anonymity,  traceability, or identification, and the ways in which those
> properties are presented by various people to various people.
> 
> Recently I've been looking particularly at Mondex. I remember receiving the
> impression several years ago, when I first heard of Mondex, that it was
> purporting to be anonymous, or at least private.  Now, however, I'm
> beginning a systematic analysis of their press releases and of press
> accounts, and I  find very few references to privacy.  One reference is in
> their web page FAQ, which says that Mondex transactions are "private, just
> like cash".  Simon Davies, in his complaint to the British Trading Standards
> authorities, also cites this FAQ, claiming that it used to read "anonymous,
> just like cash".  Davies also refers to an anonymity claim in the Mondex
> Media Pack.  But I've found very little else that suggests that Mondex ever
> hyped privacy. 
> 
> Can anyone give me an idea of how I got the idea that Mondex was making
> privacy one of its selling points?
> 
> David Phillips
> Visiting Instructor, Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan
> Doctoral Candidate, Annenberg School for Communication, University of
> Pennsylvania
> 

A. Michael Froomkin        | +1 (305) 284-4285; +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax)
Associate Professor of Law |
U. Miami School of Law     | froomkin@law.miami.edu
P.O. Box 248087            | http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin
Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA | It's warm here.