anonymous services

der.hans plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
Sat, 15 Sep 2001 09:53:55 -0700 (MST)


Am 15. Sep, 2001 schwätzte Eric so:

> Selling through a Web server in Washington is not presence for purposes of a
> *criminal* case, if by "presence" you mean either subject matter or personal
> jurisdiction.  Some cases have ruled that a single Web transaction is enough
> for such jurisdiction, but those are *civil* cases.  I am currently writing
> an article on this, and according to my (as yet not finalized) research, you
> will not find one where jurisdiction was proper in a *criminal* case.  The

Why isn't that considered a "presence"? I can see problems with local taxes
because everywhere you've been on vacation ( or as a traveling salesman )
could then claim local taxes on everything. If, however, you travel around
selling illegal drugs, then everywhere you go should be able to prosecute. In
fact, if you're crossing state or federal borders to do so, the fed should
be able to prosecute.

How is Skylarov's making "illegal"[1] software available in the .us not
prosecutable? What if he'd been running a drug-selling LA gang from .ru?
Would they be able to prosecute him ( providing they have evidence he was
running it, etc. )? Ask Noriega if suddenly becoming politically incorrect,
er, um running a drug ring from outside the .us can be prosecuted in the
.us?

> matter is even worse because this is criminal copyright, not fraud or
> something.  US v. Sklyarov & Elcomsoft is a criminal case.  We shall see if
> jurisdiction sticks, but if it does, its unprecedented as far as I know and
> it's going to be very huge.

I have no legal experience and you do, so I'll believe you. For the reasons
listed above, however, it doesn't make sense.

ciao,

der.hans

[1] I think we all agree the DMCA is wrong, heinous, borked and should be
struck down by "lightning from the heavens|the hand of God|Scooby Doo|a
yound Linda Carter as Wonder Woman|..." :).
-- 
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