Interesting People mailing list archives
Offshore Data Havens and Services
From: Timothy C. May <tcmay () netcom com>
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 93 23:56:10 PDT
Crypto Anarchists, I saw today a newspaper report that was initially surprising, then utterly unsurprising (this is possible). Namely, that the "900" sex service numbers, which have mostly been subjected to call blocking and other forms of regulatory oblivion, have been moved _offshore_. Surprised parents of teenaged children are discovering international toll calls on their phone bills! Short of barring international phone calls, the Feds can do nothing! I love it! I suppose if I followed the phone sex biz more closely, I'd've seen this trend coming. (The "unsurprising" part of my realization is that such moves offshore to avoid the regulations of one country are as old as history. With the explosion in "degrees of freedom," which we cypherpunks are riding, such movements become even easier.) (Needless to say, the operators of such services can redirect the calls back to the U.S., either via other phone lines, or via high-speed networks. The Feds can do little.) It really shows the "data transparency" of borders and the futility of trying to legislate morality through technology. (For you worried parents out there who worry about Junior calling these or any other numbers, the "politically correct" (liberrtarian :-} ) solution is also just about the only practical one: either control the phones yourself, or have a persuasive talk with Junior, or just stop worrying about who he calls--at least he won't get any diseases. The bad solution, and the essentially unenforceable one, is to have the State block certain calls, with or without the collusion of the phone company.) ... .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay () netcom com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it. ------- End of Forwarded Message
Current thread:
- Offshore Data Havens and Services Timothy C . May (Aug 04)
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- Offshore Data Havens and Services David Farber (Aug 05)