Fatwah bounced! Sorry :-)
[...]
> >Heh. Tim is always so damn quick to jump down my throat. I guess it's
> >the 'rag-head' address :-)
>
> I'm not jumping down your throat. I'm pointing out some rather obvious
> flaws in hosting any kind of Net business out of a Muslim country.
Hmmm. I think it would be better seen as a 'free zone' which happens to be
physically in a Muslim country. Given it's a net zone, and it's in a rather
sensible Muslim country, your reaction is unjustified, I think.
> >I thought the site was interesting anyway. I'm not proposing anyone set
up
> >a porn site (though I don't see why you wouldn't set up, say, the money
side
> >of it there).
>
> First, I didn't claim you proposed setting up a porn site there. (Getting
a
> little worried about a rap on the door from the Islamic Guard, are you,
> Wayne?)
Islamic guard? UAE? No such animal AFAIK.
Sure, you would need to watch out for an occasional extreme, unpredictable
reaction. You get that there too, when (for example) something makes the
headlines, right? But we are talking about an Internet free zone, so why
would you choose to put yourself at that risk anyway? As I said, tons of
skilled people would be happy to take that risk for you - for a pittance.
> Second, the point is not about porn per se. The point is about a total
> absence of anything approaching "free speech" in any Islamic country I can
> think of. (Perhaps more distant Islamic countries, like Malaysia, are more
> tolerant. Oh, they hang those caught with pot, and they ban certain
> newspapers, so I guess not.)
Hell, I wouldn't have made the original post about those countries.
I reckon a brushup on the UAE is needed here. It's not what you think. Maybe
because they have money - that always makes people (even politicians!)
happier and more tolerant.
You'd keep it out of their face, of course. Same there.
> Third, as to the idea of just having the "money side" of the Internet porn
> site or the Rushdie site in the UAE, haven't you heard of asset
> confiscation or freezing? The United States, for example, frequently
> freezes and seizes the assets in the U.S. of its political or moral
> enemies. What _real_ assurance would there be that the UAE would not seize
> the financial accounts of, say, Larry Flynt if he set up the money side of
> "Hustler Online" in the UAE?
I thought we weren't talking about porn sites :-)
But since you seem to be anyway, my immediate comment would be that at
least you have twice the after-tax profits to distribute before any
asset freezing took place. This is obvious, no? And we ARE talking about
internet businesses, right, so 'assets' are a bit nebulous anyway. I
wouldn't
expect a USA IRS auditor to be looking at my books in the UAE, and my
banking
accounts would not be in the USA unless I'm stupid.
I don't need to tell cypherpunks about this.
Or about the benefits of off-shore investment in general, or the
anonymous uses of things like e-metal/ecash, or general obfuscation
of dealings on the internet.
If you want me to present a business plan ... I won't pretend to have one.
My post was a 'heads-up' for people here who might be interested in the
information.
[...]
> The UAE is just another Islamic dictatorship.
The words are correct. The implications are not.
That's probably worth knowing about for some.
> --Tim May
regards,
regards,
Mail: wayne clerke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Voice: +971 506 43 4853
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If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.
