Re: Hiding remailers behind nymservers...? (fwd)

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 11:57 AM 5/21/96, Jim Choate wrote:
>Forwarded message:
>
>> Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 18:53:15 -0700 (PDT)
>> From: Steve Reid <root@edmweb.com>
>> Subject: Hiding remailers behind nymservers...?
>>
>> This 'middle-man' remailer... What does it really accomplish? Sure, the
>> operator is hidden, but that's only because of his/her nym at c2.org...
>> AFAICS, the 'middle-man' has just taken the liability off himself and put
>> it on the unhidden remailers. Why not just use the existing unhidden
>> remailers???
>>
>
>The first thing it accomplishes in my mind is establishing pre-meditation to
>conspire to the commission of a felony.

No, think of scienter again.

And creating something or some service that _may_ be used in connection
with a crime does not make the creator a conspirator, unless it can be
shown that he was involved in the planning of the crime used with his thing
or service.

For example, if I open up a car rental place and one of my cars is used in
a bank robbery, was I involved in a "pre-meditation to conspire to the
commission of a felony."? Clearly not.

(And before anyone brings up "required ID" at car rental agencies, such ID
is not required by any local, state, or national laws, so far as I have
ever heard. It is perfectly legal for me to rent things to people without
demanding credentials. A sufficiently large deposit may be enough. ID is
often used to satisfy insurance requirements, and to help in collecting any
unreturned items.)

Now it may be that operating a remailer may be interpreted by some courts
as being a "public nuisance," a theory I credit to Brad Templeton, but this
has not yet come even close to happening.

--Tim May


Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
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