From: mark@unicorn.com
Date: Mon Nov 10 1997 - 09:03:09 MST
phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu wrote:
>If I know who's collecting the information, and if I have equivalent
>dossiers on them, and on those in power, this isn't so bad.
Sorry, but this is nonsense; what difference would a dossier on BATF
gun ownership make when they're collecting dossiers on your gun
ownership in order to justify raiding you? Or a dossier on DEA
dope-smoking? The only effect will be to ensure that the government
are not hypocrites, or that they pass laws which allow them to behave
in a manner which would be illegal for private citizens; already
true in the case of the BATF, for example.
>Assassinations, untraceable kidnappings...
You'll have to be pretty damn clever to assassinate or kidnap
someone over the Net. As soon as your action moves into the real
world you can be traced by traditional police methods. This is
a non-issue.
>In response Brin would laugh hysterically. "We know you have money.
>Give some to us or we kill you. No? Okay, we'll take your car and kick
>you out of your home." Or demand that you work for the government for
>some period of time.
And how much, exactly, will sending thugs around to every house cost
the government? Sure, they can still send thugs to beat me up, if
they can find me, but that's a far more expensive task than
collecting taxes. And I can simply move to a tax-haven.
Mark
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