Re: I Got Mine

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

At 2:34 PM -0800 12/8/98, Jay Holovacs wrote:

>There is some general information about what to do if stopped by the police
>at the ACLU site:
>
>www.aclu.org
>
>In addition to the good advice that was given on this list to keep your
>mouth shut, I would like to comment on someone's earlier (several days ago)
>post. He had commented that the subject of spoofed messages came up in a
>discussion with an agent, and the agent asked about what this term meant.
>Don't let them draw you into such a discussion. They probably know damn
>well what these terms mean, they want to hear what you say they mean. You
>are being mind probed.
>
>Be polite, don't let them get you to say something angry or stupid, and say
>nothing more than civil response requires.

Not much you can say to them while standing out in the cold, in any case.

(Surely you will not invite them into your home! As we all know, anything
they happen to observe while doing a "wander through," even if on the way
to a seat, is usable for the purposes of obtaining a search warrant.)

I agree with Jay and others that attempting to "educate" them is a lost
cause...John Perry Barlow discovered this some years back when he was
interviewed by FBI agents over the Steve Jackson Games case (if I recall
the particulars correctly). Talking to them about particular list
personalities is _especially_ dangerous, as it helps them build whatever
case they've decided to build. "Anything you say can and will be used
against you."

If O.J. didn't have to talk, either to the police, the DA, or in court, why
should anyone else? (I know this does not encompass all witnesses, but it
captures the key idea of the Fifth for us here. Let them issue a subpoena.
And even then one may not have to talk.)

They haven't tried to talk to me...at least they haven't either gotten
through on my often-busy phone line nor have they driven out from Monterey
or San Jose to my semi-rural home.

I _hope_ I have the presence of mind to just tell them I won't be telling
them anything. Just nothing, not even jabber about a lawyer. Just nothing.
Maybe not even confirming my name...after all, I'm not driving and they
can't compell me to produce a driver's license.

I expect that if they stay around in my driveway, on my property, I'll call
out for them to leave. Beyond that they'd be trespassing.

If I slip up and say more, I'll try to swallow my pride and tell you all
just how badly I screwed up.

--Tim May

Y2K -- LMGALMAO -- Loading my guns and laughing my ass off
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Licensed Ontologist         | black markets, collapse of governments.