Re: Rumors of death of Anguilla Data are greatly exagerated.

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

(I have respect for what Vince did, by actually moving to the Caribbean and
setting up a data haven/offshore ISP business. However, just as we discuss
the situation about remailers going down, or monitoring the cleartext, or
blocking certain addresses, so too should we discuss what Vince is choosing
to do. Maybe he is ultimately right, maybe not. I'm including this preface
just so no one thinks I'm trying to start a feud. No way.)


At 12:53 AM 8/11/96, Vincent Cate wrote:
>Taxbomber wrote:
>>This is the work of some journalist hacks who did a major job of
>>character assassination by claiming that we (and our provider)
>>were involved in selling fake passports.
>
>This is a fraud by taxbomber.  He is totally involved with selling fake
>passports.  He calls them "camouflage passports" and they have names like
>"British Honduras" of countries that no longer exist, or never did.  He
>does not think they are "fake", but the rest of the world does.  He also
>suggested opening up bank accounts with these fake passports (encouraging
>fraud).

"What is truth?" Many of the things customers of a data haven are likely to
be doing are "fraudulent" or "illegal" in some jurisdictions....I'm sure I
don't have to spend effort here citing examples from religious, medical,
and business domains.

(But I can't resist: vitamin data the U.S. calls fraudulent, political
information about Ireland the U.K. calls illegal, sex information the
government of Iran punishes with death, and so on.)

Selling fake passports seems not to be something Vince ought to even be
paying attention to. Granted, pressure from outside states may put pressure
on Vince, but this actually confirms my worst (OK, _nearly_ my worst)
suspicions about the viability of such data havens.

>My lawyer called me up and told me that fake passports are illegal in
>Anguilla and that I should pull this guy immediately.  I did. It is our
>policy to not permit anything on our servers that is illegal in Anguilla.
>My lawyer is where I get the definition of "illegal in Anguilla".

Instead of "pulling" this guy, did you first send a copy of your lawyer's
letter to you to this guy, and advise him that he should remove just this
one specific item, the allegedly illegal British Honduras passports?


>Tim:
>>I'd guess that Vince has had a fun time in the Carribbean, but that he'll
>>be closing up shop sometime soon. Once some services are yanked, confidence
>>is lost.
>
>I am not closing up at all.  Anything that is legal in Anguilla can be
>done from my servers.  If not, then not.  Note that there are no taxes
>here, and there are still many things a guy can do here that are not
>permitted in other places.  However, fake passports turns out not to be
>one of them.

Then I suggest you carefully provide a full copy of what you consider to be
illegal to all subscribers. Or give subscribers a time period to remove the
_specific_ items that are deemed to be illegal.

I have some questions, though. Would bomb-making instructions be legal or
illegal, acceptable or not acceptable on your system? How about "Kill the
Queen" screeds? And so on.

Sorry to put you on the spot, Vince, but a "data haven" is by its nature
going to have a lot of "unusual" material, to use a euphemism. Everything
from Bell's bids for having government officials offed, to plans for sale
on creating false identiites, to crypto anarchy manifestos advocating the
destruction of democracies.

If you "pull" the entire account of a business when the Governor-General,
or His Royal Excellency--or whomever it is that runs Anguilla--applies
pressure....well, you won't have much of a real data haven, now will you?

Could you actually give us an idea of what is considered legal to run in
Anguilla, and what is not? How about dial-a-porn sites? (I seem to recall
mention from you or a visitor that "Penthouse" is not permitted to be sold
in Anguilla, so....)

How about gambling? How about assassination markets? (Is it legal in
Anguila if no residents or citizens of Anguilla are included in the
"game"?)

And so on.

--Tim May

Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Licensed Ontologist         | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."