FC: United Nations weighs Web site "permits"; more on gambling case

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Other noteworthy UN regulatory ideas:
  http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,32711,00.html
  http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/20705.html
Some (now-outdated) links to anonymity info:
  http://www.well.com/user/declan/nym/
An somewhat outdated piece I wrote four years ago:
  http://eff.org/pub/Publications/Declan_McCullagh/iu.plague.073196.article
  "A victory in the CDA case would, in a sense, turn the U.S. into a safe
   haven for controversial content from all over the world."

-Declan


> From: Adam Powell <apowell () freedomforum org>
> To: "'declan () well com'" <declan () well com>
> Subject: UN body considers permits for the Net
> Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 09:22:59 -0500
>
> once you start down that road...
>
> FEBRUARY 16, 22:52 EST
>
>  Internet Racism Spurs Concern at UN
>
>  By GEIR MOULSON
>  Associated Press Writer
>
>  GENEVA (AP) - The United States could do more to curb the use of the
> Internet
>  for racist material while upholding freedom of speech, experts said at a
> U.N.
>  meeting Wednesday.
>
>  ``New forms of communications technology such as the Internet are being
> used
>  to support the dissemination of racial hatred,'' Mary Robinson, the U.N.
> High
>  Commissioner for Human Rights, told participants in a three-day seminar on
>  racism.
...
>  ``The United States has developed into a safe haven for racists spreading
> their
>  word worldwide by using the Internet,'' Swiss-based information technology
> law
>  expert David Rosenthal said in a paper submitted to the conference, which
> started
>  Wednesday.

...

>  Although the U.S. government cannot ban racist speech outright, it could
> impose
>  ``reasonable restrictions,'' such as requiring a permit that would force
> publishers
>  to identify the content of their sites, Rosenthal argued.
>
>  A possible strategy to deal with Internet hate sites could be based on
> whether they
>  amount to discrimination, an area where U.S. law is strict, he said.

*************

> Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 08:28:58 -0500
> From: Laurence Sutter <lsutter () generalmedia com>
> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 [en] (Win98; I)
> X-Accept-Language: en
> To: declan () well com
> Subject: Re: FC: US prosecutes operator of legal overseas gambling site
>
>
>
>     He's being prosecuted in the Southern District of New York. For an 
> in-depth analysis of the issues, inspired by this prosecution, see 
> Keller, The Game's The Same: Why Gambling in Cyberspace Violates Federal 
> Law, 108 YALE L.J. 1569 (1999).

****************

> From: MerrittDC () aol com
> Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 09:45:56 EST
> Subject: Re: FC: US prosecutes operator of legal overseas gambling site
> To: declan () well com
>
> DeClan --
>
> The trial is taking place in the United States District Court for the
> Southern District of New York.  With respect to where Jay Cohen was living,
> he was communiting back and forth from the US to Antigua.  When he was
> indicted along with 22 others for violating the Wire Act, he returned to the
> states voluntarily to stand trial.
>
> World Wise Sports Exchange is licensed and regulated by the Government of
> Antigua.
> FYI.
>
> David Safavian

**************

Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 08:02:29 -0800
> To: declan () well com
> From: Steve Schear <schear () lvcm com>
> Subject: Re: FC: US prosecutes operator of legal overseas gambling site
>
> Its strange that these offshore operators appear not to have learned to 
> shield themselves through the usual offshore holding company methods.  My 
> understanding is that if a corporation has more than 25 shareholders 
> (e.g., 25 offshore corporations) then it is assumed, under U.S. federal 
> law, to not be closely held.  Only the officers (and not the owners) of 
> non-closely held corporations can be charged with criminal 
> conduct.  Establishing such corporations, in non-MLAT countries, as the 
> owners should do the trick.
>
> --Steve

*************

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