From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 12:11:07 +0800
To: Declan McCullagh <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: KKK derails crypto bill, report from House Judiciary...
In-Reply-To: <v03007804af9ea94e831c@[168.161.105.191]>
Message-ID: <v03007808af9ef441b39e@[207.167.93.63]>
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At 3:32 PM -0800 5/13/97, Declan McCullagh wrote:

>A two-hour debate over whether KKK volunteers could be sued for
>spilling coffee on an 8-year old at a bake sale blew through
>millions of dollars in billable lobbyist-hours and prevented the
>House Judiciary Committee from voting on Rep. Bob Goodlatte's
>(R-VA) SAFE crypto bill today.
>
>Somnolent yet somehow alert, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich) wasted an
>hour sparring with the avuncular Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois) over
>the "Volunteer Protection Act," which insulates people volunteering
>for nonprofit organizations from civil liability.
>
>But would that apply to the KKK, wondered Conyers? Is the KKK a
>registered 501(c)(3) organization under the IRS code? What about
>501(c)(4) organizations? What if a KKK member decided to build houses
>for Habitat for Humanity?

Though this was presumably not the thrust of Declan's article, the notion
that "some organizations are more insulated than others" (to paraphrase
George Orwell) is itself pernicious and revealing about the nature of
Washington.

If indeed the KKK, or the Knights of Aryanism, or the Panthers of Color are
501(c) entities, which is quite possible, then *if course* they should get
whatever status other 501(c) entities get!

(The issue of state vs. Federal jurisdiction, and the "Lopez" case, is not
what's at stake here.)

When either the Federal or state government can use policy to reward
certain types of organizations, e.g., the National Organization for Women,
but punish other types of organizations, e.g., the Aryan White Peoples
Organization, then all is lost.

(But all was lost a long time ago.)

This is actually just as important a story as whether Netscape and
Microsoft will get their special export provisions while Americans face
criminal penalties for exercise of basic Constitutional rights.


Back to SAFE, though. Does this mean the bill is dead? Can we all breathe a
sigh of relief for at least a few more months?

--Tim May

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
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."