[87063] in Cypherpunks
Re: The Telcos oppose Oxley
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bill Stewart)
Thu Sep 25 06:33:48 1997
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 02:50:45 -0700
To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
From: Bill Stewart <stewarts@ix.netcom.com>
Cc: fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu, cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: <v03102801b04f78b7716f@[207.167.93.63]>
Reply-To: Bill Stewart <stewarts@ix.netcom.com>
At 07:18 PM 09/24/1997 -0700, Tim May wrote:
>I think it was Bill Stewart who recently described all the various minor
>crimes which will likely soon involve crypto, things like calling for a
>hooker on a phone that has crypto in it, using a Metricom Ricochet wireless
>system to send banned words to a foreigner, and so on. All kinds of minor
>crimes suddenly have 10- and 20-year sentences attached.
I've been using "Jaywalking while talking on a digital cellphone",
but also things like "Cheating on your taxes with PGP on your computer"...
We came up with a bunch more at the recent Cypherpunks meeting.
So many of the extra-penalty laws are bogus; one classic abuse was a guy in
New York who was charged with "illegal possession of a linoleum knife".
Now, possession of linoleum knives is perfectly legal, even without a
flooring-installer's license. _This_ knife became illegal when
he allegedly stabbed his girlfriend with it, at which point he could
- keep the knife (illegal possession of a previously non-illegal object)
- get rid of it (illegal obstruction of justice), or
- turn it in at police station (good start on an insanity defense...)
Thanks!
Bill
Bill Stewart, stewarts@ix.netcom.com
Regular Key PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639
