On Mon, 6 Mar 2000, Jim Burnes wrote:
> Black Unicorn wrote:
> >
> > "Knowingly concealing or attempting to conceal the proceeds of a crime" is a
> > concept that is a good start.
>
> Can "common carrier" status be achieved? If you claim to be promoting
> simple high-quality privacy then you could plausibly deny "knowingly or
> attempting to conceal ... crime".
The problem I see with this is that the phone company and other common
carriers have been around for a very long time. It is "obvious" to
everyone that they can be used for other purposes. The same is not (yet)
true of payment mixes (or data havens, for that matter).
If payment mixes come online and the only visible users are "money
launderers", then this common carrier argument will be difficult.
Unfortunately, it seems to me that the early adopters of payment mixes may
well be the "money launderers" -- it may take a while to convince other
people that a payment mix is essential for their privacy and that they
should use it.
Perhaps the rise of Zero-Knowledge Systems will create the kind of
awareness and attitude required to make this work..?
