Controversy
The website does not encourage the defacement of U.S. Currency. In October 1999, Eskin was interviewed for the New York Times, where he commented on why the Secret Service has not bothered the webmaster over the defacement of US Currency. Eskin replied "They've got better things to do. They want to catch counterfeiters counterfeiting billions of dollars."
In April 2000, the site was investigated by the United States Secret Service, which informed Eskin that the selling of "Where's George?" rubber stamps on the web site is considered "advertising" on United States currency, which is illegal under 18 U.S.C. § 475. The website's administrators immediately ceased selling the rubber stamps and no further action against the site was taken. At least one spokesperson for the US Secret Service has pointed out in print that marking US bills, even if not defacement, is still illegal for other reasons under 18 U.S.C. § 475; however, a Secret Service spokesman in Seattle, Washington, told The Seattle Times in 2004: "Quite frankly, we wouldn't spend too much looking into this."
Read more about this topic: Where's George?
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