from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ ----- Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> Digital Society Internet Encryption Is Stealing My Taxes! The continuing trials of a consummate statist. 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. Summers pleaded with his colleagues to craft global rules that would require Americans to pay taxes when buying products online or getting paid electronically. --- So Much for That Plan: Speaking of data havens, remember that tiny platform off the coast of England where a band of cypherpunks have been busy starting HavenCo? Part of the allure of HavenCo is that it is based on Sealand, an ostensibly independent nation. But that concept rests on a shaky legal foundation: a 1968 court decision that said Sealand was outside of Britain's territorial waters. Well, turns out that the British authorities have changed their minds. This week immigration officials at Heathrow barred a HavenCo engineer from entering the country, the Daily Telegraph reported. That move doesn't necessarily threaten HavenCo, insists CEO Sean Hastings. "Several departments of the British government continue to maintain that Sealand is independent from the UK," Hastings said in an email message to Wired News. "Prince Roy's pension based on his decorated World War Two service to the British military is paid to him only while he resides in the UK. He is not eligible for payment during the times when he is in residence in Sealand based on the pension department's decision that it is not part of England." --- Geeks on Trial: The controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act goes on trial next week. The closely watched case, brought by the big motion picture studios in New York federal court, pits Hollywood against the open-source and hacker communities. If the entertainment industry wins and courts uphold the DMCA, companies will be able to encode their intellectual property and legally prevent anyone from circumventing the protection scheme. The trial, which is expected to last weeks, starts Monday morning before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. --- So Much for Free Speech: It is, sadly, barely newsworthy anymore: Americans don't care much for the First Amendment. The annual Freedom Forum survey says the majority of the public would prohibit speech considered offensive by racial minorities (77 percent) or religious groups (53 percent). About three-quarters would allow flag burning -- presumably even by disgruntled veterans -- to be punished. The good news, if any? Seventy-four percent of those surveyed say "material on the Internet should have the same First Amendment protection as printed material, such as books and newspapers." --- Crypto-switch?: White House Chief-of-Staff John Podesta will be talking about encryption policy at a 10 a.m. press conference at the National Press Club on Monday. According to a White House source, the topic will be the "need to address public safety and law enforcement needs." The White House also said Podesta will talk about updating "laws and practices in the face of changing technology, while protecting privacy and civil liberties. Sources are mum on what the news is, but it seems to makes sense to anticipate some further changes to export regulations. Wire News, July 17, 2000 ----- ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. 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