Re: Rotenberg as the Uber Enemy

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

At 3:03 PM -0700 6/1/97, Robert A. Costner wrote:

>Why does the store need my social security number for me to purchase soft
>drinks and eggs?  (40 cents off on eggs this week)  I see no reason for it.
>If I provide a false number, I have probably committed some crime.

Why does the store "need" to sell Yahoo but not RC Cola? Why does the store
"need" to place the eggs back in the dairy department instead of in the
bacon and sausage department? Why does the store "need" to do the things it
does?

Because the store is owned by its owners, not the shoppers, not the courts,
and not the legislatures.

What it does, or what it asks for, are its business, and the business of
its shareholders, managers, etc. Pressure from the customers may of course
cause policy changes, but this should not be confused with the passage of
laws.

As should be well known by now, such "consumer clubs" are modern marketing
gimmicks to a) encourage repeat business, and b) provide a discount to
locals without also providing a discount to "walk-ins" (travellers,
tourists, etc.).

I have no idea why they want a SS number, except perhaps that they see
every government office demanding it and so they think it is part of the ID
process. I of course would not give it. One is always free to turn down
their offer of a 40 cent discount on eggs. Sounds fair to me.

>Yes, I would support a law that forbids private companies to ask for social
>security numbers except for tax purposes.

To put it as politely as I can manage, you have no conception of what it
means to live in a free, uncoerced society.

No wonder the EFF is so fucked up.

--Tim May


There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
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,
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