From: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Mon, 30 Dec 1996 12:40:45 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: New crypto regs outlaw financing non-US development
In-Reply-To: <v02140b04aeec957d92db@[10.0.2.15]>
Message-ID: <v03007801aeedd9802bfc@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 2:27 PM -0600 12/30/96, Omegaman wrote:
>On Sun, 29 Dec 1996, Steve Schear wrote:
>
>> I doubt the Executive order can be interpreted to mean U.S. citizens cannot
>> purchase stocks of foreign companies engaged in crypto.  There are many
>> companies (e.g., NEC, Siemans, Philips, ect.) which engage in development
>> of crypto equipment which would not be exportable if they were produced in
>> the U.S.  Can the gov't deny us the right to invest in these and other
>> offshore companies?
>
>You doubt but are you sure?  Potential investors are unsure as well.  The
>executive order has a "chilling effect" on such investments, and could
>affect their actual stock value.

And I think that a prosecutor who _wished_ to make an example of someone
could use the new regs to indeed go after someone who made an "investment"
in the stock of a foreign company! An investment is clearly exactly what
the regs mention.

Now, obviously, all prosecutions have _costs_, and prosecution of someone
for buying $10,000 worth of stock in a large European or Japanese company
doing frowned-upon crypto work would be unlikely...unless that person was
Phil Zimmermann or someone else the feds want zapped. But many investments
are for much larger amounts...if someone invests $200K in the stock of a
company doing frowned upon work, the government might well decide to
prosecute.

That the regs clearly give them the authority to prosecute is the key.

The essence of a terror state is that one never knows when the hammer will
fall. This "FUD" (aka "random reinforcement") keeps the sheeple in line.

--Tim May

Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside"
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: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."