The Higher People's Court in Shanghai turned down Lin Hai's appeal Monday, nearly two months after it was filed, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.

Lin, 30, was arrested last March after giving the e-mail addresses of 30,000 Chinese computer users to ``VIP Reference,'' a pro-democracy journal published on the Internet by Chinese dissidents in the United States.

CCI - News for Today - Hacking Software Opens Door To Chinese Intelligence. Taiwanese hackers are being warned that a popular software program that enables them to break codes and invade other computers might leave their own machines open for attack by intelligence agencies on the mainland.

New York Times - free registration required Flood of E-Mail Credited With Halting U.S. Bank Plan. Though e-mail has historically been viewed as ineffective in influencing government, Federal bank regulators withdrew a proposal on Tuesday to monitor individuals' bank transactions because of hundreds of thousands of e-mail messages that protested the proposal, federal officials said.

From early December to mid-March, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) received 257,000 comments -- an unprecedented number for the agency -- on the proposed "Know Your Customer" policy, which would require banks to monitor customers' bankin patterns and report inconsistencies to Federal regulators in the name of detecting potential money-launders. More than 80 percent of those comments, about 205,000, arrived by e-mail. About 50 comments favored the proposal.

Approximately 40,000 to 1 against the program. Sounds like the public has spoken unequivocally.

Defend Your Privacy! (sponsored by Libertarian Party) is one of the organizing sites for the campaign to stop KYC ("Know Your Custommer")

Due to the overwhelming opposition expressed against Know Your Customer, it now appears that the FDIC and other bank regulators will withdraw it. However, the battle isn't over yet.

Consider the comments of FDIC spokesman David Barr: "We could write a policy statement that still gets a program in place, but takes into account comments. [We could] just give bankers some guidance out there as to what a Know Your Customer program should entail. When our examiners come in to an institution, they'll look for a Know Your Customer program."

Apparently the FDIC doesn't care what the American people think. They seem determined to enact it one way or another. To stop Know Your Customer once and for all will probably require legislation.

Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) has already introduced "The Know Your Customer Sunset Act" (HR 516), which would prohibit the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, or any other agency from implementing any form of KYC regulation.

Unfortunately this opinion that the FDIC will try and get the effect of the regulation even if the actual regulation is stopped is also held by some industry organizations.

Know Your Customer Proposal - CBA Background. The California Bankers Association is a nonprofit professional association incorporated in California, and represents virtually all of the commercial banks in the state.  CBA issued its formal comment letter dated February 25, 1999.  Click here to review. Please feel free to use or adapt in your own letters.

Pressure to withdraw proposal coming from all sides.  The regulators are continuing to receive negative comment letters by the thousands.  The chair of the Senate Banking Committee, the Comptroller of the Currency and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas (author of a bill to defeat Know Your Customer) are among the top Washington figures voicing their concerns about Know Your Customer.  Nevertheless, CBA asks that its members do not abandon their efforts to send comments and talk with the legislators.

Even if the proposal is withdrawn, the agencies are extremely likely to issue further KYC "guidance" in the form of Q&As, interpretations, examination guidelines and the like, none of which need to be subject to public comment.  Indications are that some guidance has already been drafted.  The existing SAR regulations require that banks must be able to identify any transaction that has "no apparent lawful purpose or is not the sort in which the particular customer would normally be expected to engage..."  Based on this broad language, banks are now and may be made subject to further requirements to understand customers and transactions at an untenable level