From: Black Unicorn <unicorn@schloss.li>
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 10:55:57 +0800
To: "Kawika Daguio" <rah@shipwright.com, e$@vmeng.com
Subject: Citizenship silliness.  Re: e$: crypto-expatriatism
In-Reply-To: <s5f44f00.017@aba.com>
Message-ID: <199809080254.TAA05443@cyberpass.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



At 08:24 PM 9/7/98 , Kawika Daguio wrote:
>Bob,
>
>The syllogism at the end of your post is exactly why I have spent the last 
>more than 5 years negotiating and lobbying and why we (FI's) and you 
>(everyone else) shouldn't worry about the impact of government policy on the 
>security of financial communications.  Market (macro and microeconomics 
>plays a bigger role than the government.

So that explains why the U.S. price for e.g., sugar, has exceed the world
price for sugar by 20-30% to as much as 50% for something like 20 years,
right?  Because government efforts at manipulating prices and policies are
useless?  This is, of course, but a single example.

Mr. Hettinga comments:

>Do people out there really think somebody like Gore's going to do a
crypto-amnesty someday?

Please.  Revoking one's citizenship, particularly for a better option- of
which there are many- is hardly the end of the world, and is unlikely to
make one a felon.  It will, in fact, prevent one from becoming one in this
case which is, of course, the point.  Using terms like "Crypto-amnesty" is
just inflammatory.

Mr. Hettinga further comments:

>I expect people who do this crypto-expat stuff are going to get their
>new passports refused at the U.S. border when they visit, and I think that
>things are going to get worse for them for a long time before they get
better.

Of course, this is nonsense.  I know several major U.S. tax offenders who
have several million in liens and civil judgements who return to the United
States on a regular basis, they just don't maintain assets there.  Further,
one of them just recently renewed his U.S. passport at the U.S. consulate
without incident.

Bottom line:  People don't become criminals in the United States because
they leave it.  Consider the ramifications of turning people away at the
border because they are engaged in completely legitimate commercial
practices abroad which are, none the less, undesirable in the United
States?  Christ, the U.S. can't even turn away well known but unconvicted
French Economic Intelligence experts at the border.

I am constantly amused at the attitude of Americans who are convinced that
anyone who lives outside of the "end-all-be-all of the civilized world"
must live in some third world country.  This too is nonsense.  If I were
jurisdiction shopping I'm not sure I'd pick a small African nation, as some
others have, because this state would be extremely unlikely to protect me
from the kind of nastiness that nations are expected to protect citizens
from.  Also, visa-free travel is a pretty big consideration.  Picking a
country not well established in this regard is folly.

Cryptography is the cutting edge of many things, but that situation is
quickly wavering.  It's not long before being a cryptographer is even less
profitable than it is today.  If plying your trade is important, waiting
around for "market forces" to convince the FBI that they have it all wrong
is probably not a good strategy.

Incidentally, if anyone needs assistance contacting the best migration
consultants around, I'd be happy to give you my views and make referrals.

Some of you who want a counterpoint based on something a bit more
substantial than provincial fear mongering might ask after Tim May, who I
recall considered departing the United States but decided against it for a
variety of reasons.