Re: US law - World Law - Secret Banking

[Rich Graves <llurch@networking.stanford.edu>]

On Thu, 25 Apr 1996, Hal wrote:

> I was encouraged to read the description by former NSA lawyer Stewart
> Baker of Japan's attitudes towards crypto policy (from the URL posted
> here by wb8foz@nrk.com, http://www.us.net/~steptoe/276915.htm).  We can
> all take heart in what Baker finds alarming:

Yeah, that's sweet. I'm concerned that it might paint too glowing a
picture of Japanese civil liberties, though.

NOTE: -LOlsen (I'm speaking beyond my experience)

It was my impression that the Japanese response to the Aum Shinrikyo
terrorist gassing was more draconian and one-sided than the US response to
the Oklahoma City bombing. For all the doomsday talk, you must acknowledge
that the "anti-terrorism" bill was stalled for a full year by an odd
coalition of right-wing and civil-liberties groups. I have not heard about
such political discussions in Japan. The police seemed to have carte
blanche to ban the cult, seize its assets, and investigate and/or arrest
anyone associated with it. 

If I'm misinformed, please enlighten me.

It's certainly true that internationalization usually means openness,
which usually means privacy and freedom.

-rich