From: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Sat, 9 Nov 1996 22:29:28 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Legal Saber Rattling and Huffing and Puffing about Lawsuits
In-Reply-To: <199611092250.PAA23102@teal.csn.net>
Message-ID: <v03007803aeab2317b940@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 11:36 PM -0500 11/9/96, Black Unicorn wrote:
>On Sat, 9 Nov 1996, L.Detweiler wrote:
>
>> just heard an interesting rumor that Timmy has been blacklisted
>> from working anywhere here in Colorado as a dangerous anarchist
>> and/or lunatic revolutionary.
>
>Uh, you're walking the line again here Mr. Detweiler.  I hope this is
>based in fact.

As I would under almost no circumstances sue for such typical
net.defamations, how is Detweiler walking the line? Black Unicorn would
have a very hard time suing on my behalf when I had no interest in suing.

(I may be wrong, but I don't think even with our currently warped judicial
system can Black Unicorn file charges/bring suit against Detweiler for
alleged defamations of Tim May.)

If you mean that Detweiler is violating his "consent agreement," alluded to
over the past couple of years, the one that caused him to simply switch to
the nom de net of "V.Z. Nuri" (the visionary, I presume), I rather doubt
even this is so. Unless your consent agreement had it that Detweiler would
never post again under his own name....in any case, not my concern.

Again, I think this huffing and puffing about planned lawsuits, about "I
have friends in the Office of Legitimate Speech and I'm quite sure they'll
be happy to see your illegal speech here," etc., is inconsistent with goals
I think many of us hold in high regard.

If someone wants to sue, then go ahead. But the huffing and puffing is
getting tiresome. Let's see some real action. In cruder terms, put up or
shut up.

No offense meant to Black Unicorn...it's just that he has on multiple
occasions talked about lawsuits, about friends of his or classmates of his
who are in various governmental roles, and about how interested they might
be blah blah blah. I don't like this kind of bluster. For example, take the
recent example of  using the "Get back on your medications" quip. Black
Unicorn has said in recent days that such a quip might be actionable (I
think this was directed at Vulis, but I could be misremembering things). I
strongly doubt such a common net.quip is actionable in any way. But, in any
case, what about all the quips that Detweiler was off his lithium, off his
thorazine, off his meds? Neither Black Unicorn nor his nominal allies were
raising this point back then. Let's see some consistency. And let's reduce
the amount of "legal saber rattling." OK?

(Yes, I read Black Unicorn's piece here about why he tends to think in
terms of using the American legal system the way he does. I think most
libertarian-minded folks accept the maxim that "sticks and stones may break
my bones, but names will never hurt me"...it sounds like something one
would hear in pre-school, but it remains as true today as back then. More
people ought to remember it. And Black Unicorn's invocation of "false
advertising" in connection with the rants of various snake oilers is
equally misplaced. There will be snake oil, just as there is bad speech. If
Black Unicorn threatens to sic the FTC on Snaketronics...not a good way to
debunk crummy products. The proper remedy for bad speech is more speech.
And, as I noted, part of my ire is not the use of the  legal system, but
the huffing and puffing and idle threats to do so.)

Sorry if the tone sounds angry. I am not angry, just in "forceful
disagreement."

--Tim May


"The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM
that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology."
[NYT, 1996-10-02]
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
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: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."