Would anyone have the balls to talk to the officials if they were just scammers as suggested by some of the fanatics? In my opinion, no.

Downloads a PDF file Ripple Labs submitted for a senate hearing in Australia.
http://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=709dd11c-4a6a-4bad-893b-79ffb77110d7&subId=301962

This is the letter (complete submission pdf attached)

27 November 2014
Senate Standing Committees on Economics
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Madam/Sir:
Sub: Senate Inquiry into Digital Currency
On behalf of Ripple Labs Inc., I am very pleased to table this submission, via the online facility, for your consideration. Ripple Labs is engaging with financial institutions around the world, including Australia, to implement an open, free and universally acceptable global protocol for funds settlements. Being a transformative technology, especially for cross-border transactions, we believe this can enable Australian institutions, small and large businesses and individuals to prosper in global markets.
Digital currency is an enabling component of the Ripple protocol, but not as a currency for use by individuals or to replace fiat currencies like the Australian dollar. Our proposed use of digital currency is to reduce friction between financial institutions and accelerate the velocity of financial transactions by the provision of cheap and plentiful liquidity. We believe digital currency can play a key role alongside traditional fiat currencies in such
digitally-enabled models for transforming economies. We are working with financial regulators around the world as well as supporting new initiatives for financial inclusion in emerging economies. Ripple Labs would be happy to provide further information and opinions to the Australian Senate Inquiry into Digital Currency. We have no objection to our submission being made public.
Yours sincerely,
Dilip Rao
Director - Asia Pacific
Ripple Labs Inc.