Just say no to the Feds

["John Stricker" <jstricke@domain.elided>]

Well, if this doesn't about suck I don't know what does.

I'm participating in an Internet campaign to stop a regulation which would
require your bank to spy on you, and I'd like to invite you to join me.

We now have less than 20 days to contact the FDIC and demand that it kill
its proposed "Know Your Customer" rule.  Please forward this message to any
friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, or other people you know who may be
interested, then go to http://www.defendyourprivacy.com and sign the
petition.  It will be submitted directly to the FDIC.  Plus, a copy will be
sent to your representative in the U.S. House and to both your U.S.
Senators.

The FDIC's Know Your Customer rule would force banks to "monitor" your
checking and savings account and report any "unusual transactions" to the
federal government.  This frightening threat to your financial privacy
would force your bank to:

  * Discover your "source of funds"

  * Determine your "normal and expected
    transactions"

  * Report any "suspicious activity" to federal
    investigators

The government claims it is trying to thwart money launderers and drug
dealers.  But what this law will do is turn every bank teller into a
government informer and everyone with a bank account into a criminal
suspect.

In a free society, the government has no business asking where you get your
money or how you spend it -- and politicians have no right to force your
bank to monitor your account.

But that's exactly what's going to happen, unless we can generate enough
opposition before the FDIC's comment period expires on March 8.  Outraged
Americans have already flooded the FDIC with over 20,000 comments against
the Know Your Customer regulation -- but the agency hasn't backed down yet.

Let's keep up the pressure.

Please forward this e-mail to everyone you know who might be interested in
helping, but please don't send it indiscriminately -- spam will only hurt
our campaign.

Then go to http://www.defendyourprivacy.com and sign the petition.

Thank you.

John Stricker

jstricke@domain.elided

"I didn't spend all these years getting to the top of the food chain
just to become a vegetarian"