And if that same policeman happened to be speaking to parliament and was asked whether going 150 mph was legal he would be able to give a clear answer.
A better example is HMRC, the tax authority, in the UK. They won't tell you if your tax avoidance scheme is legal or not, but they will fine you or take you to court if they later decide it is not.
Just reading that, it looks like this isn't free. Essentially, what you're paying the IRS for here is for them to procure legal advice for you (with the added benefit that they'll bind themselves to that for a while?)
However:
> Even with a favorable ruling, a taxpayer has no absolute guarantee of the tax consequences, since the IRS can modify or revoke a previously issued private letter ruling if it is later determined that the ruling was incorrect or inconsistent with the current position of the IRS.
> 1. Firstly, if the law isn't settled, then no they wouldn't.
> The head of the SEC was asked by congress if Eth was a security, and true to form he refused to answer.
So what you're saying is that the Head of the SEC refused to answer a question they're not qualified to. Because it's an unsettled area of law that they're now challenging through enforcement action.
> I don't understand how anyone can believe these people act in good faith.
One way to look at it: the SEC doesn’t decide what is legal. They have an opinion, but it is the courts that decide. This is the process working as designed.
