Representatives of several public interest groups that follow Internet issues said the provision could put PayPal in the position of acting as an agent of law enforcement.
Mr. Posner faults what he calls excessive concerns over civil liberties for tying the hands (or intimidating the agents) of law enforcement agencies.
Sir Ian attributes crime and antisocial behaviour to three trends: declining influence of "the agencies of community cohesion" (churches, trade unions, housing associations), the disappearance of non-police "agents of social enforcement" (park-keepers, caretakers, bus conductors), and the closure of long-stay psychiatric institutions.
"Essentially this is about the cosigned relationship of trust, between people and agents of law enforcement," he said.
Now the public health concern has been handed off in large part to agents of law enforcement.
Since those federal laws largely exempt agents of law enforcement, he said, it might be possible for a state to get around federal restrictions by declaring all gun owners to be police officers.
And to please both sides the activists who seek indictments following nearly every police shooting, and agents of law enforcement who often believe they are infallible investigations by independent prosecutors are essential when emotions are running high.
If so, there won't be enough agents of law enforcement to keep track of all those whites who "hate" blacks, of blacks who "hate" whites, of everybody else who's thought aloud disparagingly about "Muslims" -- the black, brown and white of "them".
An often insuperable obstacle is the agricultural workers' mistrust of enforcement agents.
The lawsuit was brought by Chris Crane, an officer who leads the union of enforcement agents.
