Posted on 07/29/2009 1:48:23 PM PDT by libh8er
The Las Vegas Review Journal recently reported on the trial of Robert Kahre, a guy accused of setting up a scheme to pay employees in gold coins so that they may tell the IRS they were paid by the coin's nominal, face value, rather than what that gold is actually worth when converted into dollars.
Not surprisingly, the story attracted many angry commenters, who hate the IRS and who hate paper currency.
Now, in a case that should once again test the (established) privacy rights of web commenters, the newspaper has be subpoenad for their info. And it's not just your garden variety names and IP addresses that the government wants.
This past week the newspaper was served with a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. attorney's office demanding that we turn over all records pertaining to those postings, including "full name, date of birth, physical address, gender, ZIP code, password prompts, security questions, telephone numbers and other identifiers ... the IP address," et (kitchen sink) cetera.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Good grief. Is there anybody who DOESN’T hate the IRS?
Good reason to set up your web servers abroad!
And why do they think they have that information?
Surely no one gives that stuff to post online,,,,
“Good grief. Is there anybody who DOESN’T hate the IRS?”
J.K. Harris
The article (or at least the quoted portion of it) omits the most important fact— the subpoena was only for the identities of the posters who made threats against the jury. Threatening sitting jurors during a pending criminal case is a no-no.
The Las Vegas Review Journal recently reported on the trial of Robert Kahre, a guy accused of setting up a scheme to pay employees in gold coins so that they may tell the IRS they were paid by the coin’s nominal, face value, rather than what that gold is actually worth when converted into dollars.
My question is what actual crime was the man charged with?
Is it illegal topay a wage in gold?
If not then where is the crime.
The non existent paper dollar that I earned asmy wage this weekmy leter be worth more then the $1 it was taxed at when I was paid.I couldinvest it in the stockmarket and it could end up being worth $10.I donlt see the difference here except the Government sees that someone is smarter then they are...
Just send them the phone book!
OUCH!
Will this outrageous instrusiveness finally cause the press to get off its knee pads to these marxists? How in the name of Sam Hill did America get to this point!!!
Next- web sites required to provide the same?
I have a gold American Eagle that has an inscribed value of ‘fifty dollars’. It is indeed a US minted coin of legal tender. If I perform a service and am paid with this coin, am I not entitled to list it as a $50.00 payment? True, you can’t go to the bank and buy these for $50, but that is what’s stamped on it as legal tender. how do they get around this?
I don't. I hate the tax structure in this country, and I hate my exorbitant tax bill, and I hate the profligate spending that makes such confiscatory taxes necessary, but the IRS has a mandate to enforce those laws, and in my dealings with that agency, the agents have been unfailingly polite and helpful. Of all the federal agencies I've ever had to deal with, only the FAA has done a better job at customer service than the IRS.
Go ahead and hate the tax code. Go ahead and hate the politicians who enacted it. But don't blame the IRS for those laws... they've got a job to do and they generally do it well.
In small incremental steps. So small that you don't even notice. Just ask the frog.
Yes, my apologies for not reading the whole article. I usually do, but the mention of the term “IRS” makes me crazy...
I know one blog that has an amusing approach to the possibility that its posters might be subpoenaed—every submission is automatically recorded with fake information. Fake identity generators are available for anyone who does this, for example:
http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/
Importantly, such intrusions usually ask for all kinds of personal data, for which the subpoenaed website can fully comply, as they keep accurate records of the fake information they have generated.
Even if they notice that every single one of the posters information is false, they will probably assume that the posters did it, not the website. But there is no requirement for a website to collect such data. Ironically, the way subpoenas are written, this will actually pass muster.
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