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

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>X-Sender: declan@mail.well.com
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>Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 11:05:17 -0500
>From: 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Some (now-outdated) links to anonymity info: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An somewhat outdated piece I wrote four years ago: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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