[108097] in Cypherpunks
Re: FW: ACTION ITEM: Know Your Customer
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anonymous)
Thu Feb 4 14:46:55 1999
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 20:17:57 +0100
From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
To: jwilso37@visteon.com, infosec@onelist.com, cypherpunks@toad.com
Reply-To: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
It looks like public outcry is winning over on this issue.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0%2C1051%2CART-2
2842%2C00.html
At 08:45 AM 2/4/99 -0500, Wilson, Jamie (J.R.) wrote:
>-----Original Message-----
>From: announce@lp.org [mailto:announce@lp.org]
>Sent: Wednesday, 03 February, 1999 07:48
>To: ees002s@republicbankfl.com
>Subject: ACTION ITEM: Know Your Customer
>
>===============================================
>URGENT ACTION ITEM!
>FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
>===============================================
>Watergate Office Building
>2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
>Washington DC 20037
>Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
>E-mail: ggetz@CompuServe.com
>For information about the party: (800) ELECT-US
>===============================================
>February 2, 1999
>===============================================
>
>With deadline rapidly approaching, LP urges
>members to help repeal "Know Your Customer" rule
>
>
>* Immediate action required! Contact the FDIC
>
>
> BAD NEWS: There is slightly over one month left until the public
>comment period expires on the FDIC's proposed "Know Your Customer"
>regulation, which would require banks to spy on their customers for the
>federal government.
>
> GOOD NEWS: The Libertarian Party's all-out effort to kill this
>outrageous proposal by flooding the FDIC with letters, faxes, and
>e-mails is rapidly picking up steam -- and we need your help to finish
>the job.
>
> What is the Know Your Customer proposal, and how can you help
>abolish it?
>
> Know Your Customer is a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
>(FDIC) proposal that would require banks and other financial
>institutions to develop customer profiles, monitor their customers'
>accounts, and report any "unusual transactions" to federal law
>enforcement agencies like the DEA or the IRS.
>
> The government claims it is trying to thwart money launderers and
>drug dealers. But what this law would really do is turn every bank
>teller into a government informer and every American with a bank
>account into a criminal suspect -- and that's why Libertarians are
>fighting this law.
>
> More specifically, the Know Your Customer proposal, as published
>in the December 7, 1998, Federal Register, requires that banks:
>
> * Determine their customer's sources of funds.
>
> * Determine their customer's "normal and expected" transactions.
>
> * Monitor customer transactions and identify transactions that are
> inconsistent with normal and expected transactions.
>
> * Report any "suspicious activity" to federal investigators.
>
> This policy is scheduled to go into effect on April 1, 2000,
>unless we can put enough pressure on the FDIC to kill it. The FDIC is
>taking public comments on this issue until March 8 -- which gives us
>just over one month to make it clear that the American public will not
>accept this outrageous regulation.
>
> In order to achieve that, the Libertarian Party has joined a
>coalition to repeal the proposal along with the ACLU, the Free Congress
>Foundation, the California Bankers Association, and other privacy
>groups.
>
> Already, our efforts are paying off:
>
> * On January 8, the national Libertarian Party issued a press
>release denouncing the scheme as "the ultimate invasion of your
>financial privacy," and response from the media has been overwhelming:
>LP spokespeople have been scheduled for 25 broadcast interviews heard
>on a total of 356 stations, and interview requests continue to roll in.
>
> * Even Congress is paying attention: On January 11, while an LP
>spokesman was being interviewed on radio station WJBO in Baton Rouge,
>Louisiana, Congressman Richard Baker become so alarmed by the angry
>calls that he called in and tried to do a little damage control! Baker,
>a senior Republican on the House Banking Committee, pledged to hold
>hearings on repealing the Know Your Customer program.
>
> * Best of all, the FDIC has already been flooded with over 11,000
>letters, faxes, and e-mails protesting the plan!
>
> Public opposition to the plan is growing so quickly that the FDIC
>is starting to retreat on its position. It has now announced that the
>plan could be "substantially revised."
>
> That's where you come in. Libertarians don't want this "Spy on
>Your Customer" program watered down, revised, or reformed; we want it
>repealed!
>
> With your help, we can immediately DOUBLE the number of public
>comments the FDIC has received. How? By hitting the FDIC with an
>avalanche of 11,000 more letters, faxes, and e-mails -- which might be
>enough to bury this proposal once and for all.
>
> That's right: If each of the 11,000-plus subscribers to the
>Libertarian Party's e-mail list fired off a comment to the FDIC right
>now, we could immediately double the number of public comments
>received, putting tremendous pressure on the agency to rescind this
>plan.
>
> And if everyone forwarded this e-mail to just one friend who is
>concerned about financial privacy, we could triple the number of
>comments, and so on.
>
> HOW TO CONTACT THE FDIC:
>
> * E-mail: comments@FDIC.gov
>
> * Write: Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary, Federal
> Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street, NW,
> Washington DC 20429
>
> * Fax: (202) 898-3838
>
> WHAT TO SAY:
>
> First, state in simple and unambiguous language that you are
>opposed to the Know Your Customer regulation, and want it repealed.
>
> Then, make some or all of the following points:
>
> * In a free society, the government has no business even asking
>where you get your money or how you spend it -- and politicians
>certainly have no right to force your bank to monitor your account.
>This is the kind of thing you might have expected of the government of
>East Germany, China, or North Korea, but not in the U.S.A.
>
> * The Know Your Customer regulation amounts to an illegal,
>warrantless search that violates the Fourth Amendment. Monitoring every
>bank account to check for laundered money is no different from pulling
>over every driver just in case some are intoxicated, or searching every
>home to check for stolen goods. It is unconstitutional -- plain and
>simple.
>
> * The Know Your Customer regulation could subject your money to
>asset forfeiture. Asset forfeiture laws allow police to seize your car,
>your cash, and even your home without having to charge you with a
>crime -- and force you to go to court to get it back. Instead of being
>the safest place to store your money, banks could become the most
>dangerous place -- since Uncle Sam's bank robbers can seize it at will.
>
> * Like asset forfeiture laws and fingerprints on drivers
>licenses, the Know Your Customer regulation is another
>Prove-You're-Not-A-Criminal law. In America, we're supposed to be
>innocent until proven guilty -- not the other way around.
>
> * Most important, the Know Your Customer regulation cannot be
>reformed; it should be repealed!
>
> TIPS: Here are a few suggestions to make your efforts as
>effective as possible:
>
> * Include your name and address; anonymous messages may be
> ignored.
>
> * Be polite. Threats, abuse, and offensive language will cause
> your message to be disregarded.
>
> * Put the above points in your own words. The FDIC is receiving
> hundreds of form letters, faxes, and e-mails every day, so make
> yours look personal.
>
> * Be brief. Keep faxes and letters to one page, and e-mails to a
> few hundred words.
>
> * Hurry! With the deadline just slightly over one month away, we
> need to pressure the FDIC bureaucrats now. Let's see if
> Libertarians working together can cause an "e-mail avalanche" --
> and a flood of letters and faxes -- at the FDIC!
>
> Is there anything else you can do? Yes: Pass this Action Item on
>to a friend or relative and ask them to contact the FDIC, too.
>
>
>
>*** END PGP VERIFIED MESSAGE ***
>
>The Libertarian Party
>http://www.lp.org/
>2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice:
>202-333-0008
>Washington DC 20037 fax:
>202-333-0072
>
>For subscription changes, please mail to <announce-request@lp.org> with the
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>form.
>
