Offshore Data Havens and Services

[Timothy C. May <tcmay () netcom com>]

Crypto Anarchists,

I saw today a newspaper report that was initially surprising, then
utterly unsurprising (this is possible). Namely, that the "900" sex
service numbers, which have mostly been subjected to call blocking and
other forms of regulatory oblivion, have been moved _offshore_.
Surprised parents of teenaged children are discovering international
toll calls on their phone bills!

Short of barring international phone calls, the Feds can do nothing! I
love it!

I suppose if I followed the phone sex biz more closely, I'd've seen
this trend coming. (The "unsurprising" part of my realization is that
such moves offshore to avoid the regulations of one country are as old
as history. With the explosion in "degrees of freedom," which we
cypherpunks are riding, such movements become even easier.)

(Needless to say, the operators of such services can redirect the
calls back to the U.S., either via other phone lines, or via
high-speed networks. The Feds can do little.)

It really shows the "data transparency" of borders and the futility of
trying to legislate morality through technology. (For you worried
parents out there who worry about Junior calling these or any other
numbers, the "politically correct" (liberrtarian :-} ) solution is
also just about the only practical one: either control the phones
yourself, or have a persuasive talk with Junior, or just stop worrying
about who he calls--at least he won't get any diseases. The bad
solution, and the essentially unenforceable one, is to have the State
block certain calls, with or without the collusion of the phone
company.)
...
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay () netcom com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.

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