Re: East German Collapse (Was: Fighting the cybercensor

On Tue, 28 Jan 1997 stewarts@ix.netcom.com wrote:

> (ObCypherpunksContent: if substantial amounts of tax money starts
> escaping into Cypherspace, it's not easy to maintain a modern
> CorporatistWelfare-for-Bureaucrats state either.....)

I disagree. Where does this money "escape" to? Do you spend it on rent,
pizza, a new stereo? Hmm... These are all meatspace transactions and can
be taxed.

I met last week with a senior Clinton administration official for an
article I'm working on and posed this question to him, asking how we can
tax anonymous online transactions. He replied: "Well, we have this
corporate income tax..."

-Declan

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

At 10:53 AM 1/29/97 -0500, Declan McCullagh wrote:
>I disagree. Where does this money "escape" to? Do you spend it on rent,
>pizza, a new stereo? Hmm... These are all meatspace transactions and can
>be taxed.

Money that escapes into Cyberspace just remains there in much the same way that money that escapes offshore today just stays there.  It is not usually repatriated.

Offshore funds accumulate offshore and earn interest and dividends there.  If the onshore owners need their offshore money they do not, repeat do not, repatriate it.  They borrow it instead and pay it back with (deductible) interest expatriating more money.  The same practice can be followed in cyberspace.

Stateless funds (whether Offshore or in Cyberspace) can be used to:

1)	Pay salaries
2)	Make loans
3)	Buy digital goods and services (telecoms, entertainment, etc.)
4)	Pay school fees
5)	Pay for travel
6)	Pay for mail order goods (customs duties will fade)

Individuals can also easily support their lifestyles with Offshore or Cyberspace funds by using stateless credit cards and taking cash from ATM machines using stateless ATM cards.

You can certainly use offshore or cyberspacial funds to pay the rent on your flat in Montreux overlooking Lake Geneva and not too many taxes will be applied to that transaction.

Accumulating vast wealth (even if it is only represented as bits) can be very fun as well.

DCF
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 4.5

iQCVAgUBMu+HMIVO4r4sgSPhAQGf4wQA3V8f21i8fYK7S4BkhGyFE2/5hWgPgpSH
mShQ3tDu8aK9O6OV4e3OdXdl3+Ack9cGWKBEeS8sL9UscYJ96NmURgsZp5rx/nJS
S51C05IS/mxFlW1BusS2UvyZBBI321/gwyLysexWcxaLjpieKTfW3eZe9cm+1Kb7
n9cXvTMlF8A=
=mnFh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----