http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37573,00.html Is Encryption Tax-Protective? by Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 3:00 a.m. Jul. 15, 2000 PDT WASHINGTON -- It used to be FBI Director Louis Freeh who would rail against online anonymity and argue that Americans should not be allowed to use encryption software without backdoors. Now it's the U.S. Treasury Department -- home to the Secret Service, the IRS, and the Customs Service -- that's complaining. "Problems could arise from the increasing sophistication of Internet encryption codes that are established for valid reasons of commercial secrecy but can also be used to conceal relevant tax details from tax administrations," Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said this week. "In such a world, it will be easier for companies to avoid tax collectors by operating worldwide through websites based in jurisdictions that are unwilling to share taxpayer information," Summers told a gathering of international tax administrators in Washington. [...]
