Re: Zimmermann legal fund

[nsb@nsb.fv.com]

>Nathaniel Borenstein <nsb@nsb.fv.com> writes on cpunks:
>The URL being used is http://www.netresponse.com/zldf, and nowhere
>does it mention using PGP and CC #'s.  Most people who can't use PGP
>aren't going to be interested I would have thought.  

Actually, I think you're wrong on that score.  I've met quite a few people
who understand the importance of the principles involved, and who support
Phil's caue wholeheartedly, but who have never even tried to learn PGP
(never felt the need, I guess).

However, I agree that the pages should at least contain a link to the other
ZLDF site, which mentions how to use PGP and credit card numbers.

>Okay, now separate issue, really talking about FV now.  For me, the
>main thing holding me back from using it is that I'm not in the US,
>and don't have a US bank account to open a FV seller acct.  (I would
>have liked to use it as one of the few net payment systems actually up
>and running, as a payment method for the RSA T-shirts, it would have
>been a nice system, allowing me to effectively accept VISA payments
>which I have otherwise been unable to do.)
>
>Any news on this front?  Last I looked on your WWW page, you were
>investigating this and payments in other currencies.  US$ would be
>fine though, as long as it was possible for the seller to create a US
>account, or have it paid to a non-US account (would it not be possible
>to pay to non-US account?).

Of course it's possible, and it's definitely something we intend to do
*eventually*.  The real question is how hard it is, and how high-priority
it is.  We're trying to do a zillion things at once, as you can imagine. 
To pay into non-US accounts, we need to establish banking relationships in
other venues.  For the most part, we need to do it one country at a time,
which is awesomely time-consuming (although there may be some shortcuts,
e.g. to do all of Europe at once).

However, it is worth noting that we DO have non-US sellers already. 
Remember, the requirement is not that you be in the US, but rather than you
have an account in a US bank.  This is not all that hard for a non-US
citizen to do **IF** you can show up physically at a US bank.  Thus, if
there's a US bank that has an office near you, you can walk in and open an
account to which deposits can be made through the US direct-deposit system,
and  you're in business with FV.

What we'd really hoped to have up and running by now, as a short-term
expedient, was an expedited mechanism whereby non-US people could open
accounts at a US bank by mail, without the physical presence.  This turns
out to be contrary to a lot of established procedures in the US banking
world, so we're still looking for a bank that's willing to set up this kind
of expedited procedure for account setup.  If and when we get that working,
we will certainly be announcing the availability of that service on
fv-users and similar venues.  (I probably won't announce it on cypherpunks,
since I think many people already think FV is too-much-discussed here.  My
intent with FV on cypherpunks is to only talk about FV in contexts where it
is directly relevant, in particular when other people bring it up.)  --
Nathaniel