I Got Mine

["Blanc" <blancw@cnw.com>]

I received my visit from the friendly IRS guys tonight, asking about CJ/Toto.
It seems that they had a copy of two emails (which they took from his
confiscated computer) with my name on them - one of them the one in which I
chastized him for sending a threatening letter to Billg.   According to the
headers in the message which they showed to me, Toto forwarded my reply through
remailer@replay.com, Anon-To: billg.

They wanted to know about my associations with Toto (I still think of him by
that name), of course, of which I had none except through email.  In our
conversation, I discovered things that I didn't know about Toto's situation:
that he had sent threatening letters to the Mounties, and that he had threated
to kill the judge trying Jim's case.   This is why he will be held and tried in
the local jail - because the potential victims (besides the Mounties) are in
this area.  (sigh) I'm afraid CJ really went over the edge here and backed
himself up in a corner.  I should have chastized him more severely and counseled
him against rash acts of unkindness (not that I hold myself responsible for what
he did, but he did pay attention to me).

Kind of amusingly, one of them asked if CJ had ever asked me to join the Circle
of Eunuchs!  heh.   I explained that it was Toto's Art imitating Life, creating
stories about a revolutionary group based on the list discussions, and that I
suspected he called it the Circle of Eunuchs because of the accusations ( by
*some people* )that cpunks are ineffectual.

We had a bit of discussion on a number of things, including the subject of free
speech and how close one can get to it before being subject to arrest.  I asked
them what that crucial point was when this would happen, since there is no crime
until action is actually taken.  They said this would be when a direct threat is
made and a specific name is mentioned.  I referenced as an example the web site
which some group put up containing a list of the names of abortion-performing
doctors, mentioned in the press as a 'hit list'.   They said that a web site
with a list of names is not a problem.  It is when statements are made about
killing the individuals on the list that a person would have "crossed the line".
One of the investigators also brought up the issue of the conflict between free
speech vs life & liberty, of when one infringes on the other (as in threatening
to take away someone's life).  I remarked that one must always be prepared for
the unexpected, and they made some points about taking threats seriously and the
necessity of government agents looking out for their personal safety.

I asked if cypherpunks would actually be subpoenaed to appear at CJ's trial.
They said it depends on CJ:  if he accepts a deal, he would likely get a reduced
sentence, but if he takes them to trial then there could be quite a number of
Cpunks called forth.  I suggested if that happens we could all go out to dinner
: ) and they thought this would be quite interesting.  One of the investigators
expressed a great interest in the cpunk dicussions and concepts;  I described
something of what the list is about and the flow of subscribers through it, and
referred him to the archives, saying '94-'95 were some good years.  I'm sure
given a little time and several dinners we could convert him to the Dark Side.
<g>

   ..
Blanc