The following is part of an outline dealing with the topics on this list,
maintained since 1990 for a novel-in-progress (the writing, that is) I've
been working on for several years, off and on. In addition to using various
databases and hypertext systems (ArchiText, from Brainpower, and
StorySpace, from Eastgate Systems) for character developoment and plots, I
have also relied heavily on MORE, a powerful outline processor from
Symantec (MORE 3.0 is the direct descendent of ThinkTank, and feature
"cloning," where a branch of the outline can be replicated in many places,
allowing immediate hypertext-like jumps to distant parts of the outline,
and also maintaining database coherency).
Several people have requested that I make good on my offer to post certain
parts of these notes, especially the parts dealing with "crypto anarchy"
and how it may get developed, how it may be fought by the law enforcement
types, what it can be used for, etc.
As an exeriment, I'll post here just one medium-sized branch, from deep in
the outline tree. "Reasons for Anonymity" seems in line with current list
interest. (Note that most of these comments were written in 1990-91, so
they may be slightly dated.)
If the reaction is favorable, maybe I'll post more. Or, there may be other
options, such as placing parts of the outline in the archive site.
I've converted the nested outline structure to a flattened,
Harvard-labelled text file. It may still not be the easiest to read,
especially as many of the entries are intended only to jog my memory and to
help me organize my thinking.
Hope someone likes it.
Reasons for Anonymity and Digital Pseudonyms
I. many of the same reasons as with Caller ID, but many
new reasons as well
II. Physical Threats
A. "corporate terrrorism" is not a myth: drug dealers and
other "marginal" businessmen face this every day
1. extortion, threats, kidnappings
B. and many businesses of the future may well be less
"gentlemanly" than the conventional view has it
1. witness the bad blood between Intel and AMD, and
then imagine it getting ten times worse
2. and national rivalries, even in ostensibly legal
businesses (think of arms dealers), may cause more
use of violence
3. Mafia and other organized crime groups may try to
extort payments or concessions from market
participants, causing them to seek the relative
protection of anonymous systems
a) with reputations
4. Note that calls for the threatened to turn to the police
for protection has several problems
a) the activities may be illegal or marginally illegal (this
is the reason the Mafia can often get involved and
why it may even sometimes have a positive effect,
acting as the cop for illegal activities)
b) the police are often too busy to get involved, what
with so much physical crime clogging the courts
C. extortion and kidnappings can be done using these
very techniques of cryptoanarchy, thus causing a kind
of arms race
D. battered and abused women and families may need
the equivalent of a "witness protection program"
1. because of the ease of tracing credit card purchases,
with the right bribes and/or court orders (or even
hacking), battered wives may seek credit cards under
pseudonyms
a) and some card companies may oblige, as a kind of
politically correct social gesture
b) or groups like NOW and Women Against Rape may
even offer their own cards
(1) perhaps backed up by some kind of escrow fund
(2) could be debit cards
E. people who participate in cyberspace businesses may
fear retaliation or extortion in the real world
1. threats by their governments (for all of the usual
reasons, plus kickbacks, threats to close them down,
etcl)
2. ripoffs by those who covet their success...
III. Needed for Certain Kinds of Reputation-Based
Systems
A. a respected scientist may wish to float a speculative
idea
1. and be able to later prove it was in fact his idea
IV. Legal Protection
A. many transactions may be deemed illegal in some
jursidictions
1. even in some that the service or goods provider has no
control over
a) example: gun makers being held liable for firearms
deaths in the District of Columbia (though this was
recently cancelled)
2. the maze of laws may cause some to seek anonymity
to protect themselves against this maze
B. "deep pockets"
1. it will be in the interest of some to hide their
identities so as to head off these kinds of lawsuits
(filed for whatever reasons, rightly or wrongly)
2. postings and comments may expose the authors to
lawsuits for libel, misrepresentation, unfair
competition, and so on (so much for free speech in
these beknighted states)
3. employers may also be exposed to the same suits,
regardless of where their employees posted from
a) on the tenuous grounds that an employee was acting
on his employer's behalf, e.g., in defending an Intel
product on Usenet
4. this, BTW, is another reason for people to seek ways to
hide some of their assets-to prevent confiscation in
deep pockets lawsuits (or family illnesses, in which
various agencies try to seize assets of anybody they
can)
5. and the same computers that allow these transactions
will also allow more rapid determination of who has
the deepest pockets!
C. moonlighting employees (the original concern over
Black Net and AMIX)
1. employers may have all kinds of concerns, hence the
need for employees to hide their identities
2. note that this interects with the licensing and zoning
aspects
D. to beat zoning and licensing requirements
E. Scenario: Anonymous organ donor banks
1. e.g., a way to "market" rare blood types, or whatever,
without exposing one's self to forced donation or other
sanctions
a) "forced donation" involves the lawsuits filed by the
potential recipient
b) at the time of offer, at least...what happens when the
deal is consummated is another domain
2. and a way to avoid the growing number of
government stings
F. avoidance of prosecution or damage claims for
writing, editing, distributing, or selling such
"damaging" materials is yet another reason for
anonymous systems to emerge: those involved in the
process will seek to immunize themselves from the
various tort claims that are clogging the courts
1. producers, distributors, directors, writers, and even
actors of x-rated or otherwise "unacceptable" material
may have to have the protection of anonymous
systems
2. imagine fiber optics and the proliferation of videos
and talk shows....bluenoses and prosecutors will use
"forum shopping" to block access, to prosecute the
producers, etc.
V. Anonymity in Requesting Information, Services,
Goods
A. a la the controversy over Caller ID and 900 numbers:
people don't want their telephone numbers (and
hence identities) fed into huge consumer-preference
data banks
1. of the things they buy, the videos they rent, the books
they read. etc. (various laws protect some of these
areas, like library books, video rentals)
2. subscription lists are already a booming resale
market...this will get faster and more finely "tuned"
with electronic subscriptions: hence the desire to
subscribe anonymously
B. some examples of "sensitive" services that anonymity
may be desired in (especially related to computers,
modems, BBSes)
1. reading unusual or sensitive groups: alt.sex.bondage,
etc.
a) or posting to these groups!
b) recent controversy over NAMBLA may make such
protections more desirable to some (and parallel calls
for restrictions!)
2. posting to such groups, especially given that records
are perpetual and that government agencies read and
file postings (an utterly trivial thing to do)
3. requesting help on personal issues (equivalent to the
"Name Witheld" seen so often)
4. discussing controversial political issues (and who
knows what will be controversial 20 years later when
the poster is seeking a political office, for example?)
a) given that some groups have already (1991) posted the
past postings of people they are trying to smear!
5. Note: the difference between posting to a BBS group
or chat line and writing a letter to an editor is
significant
a) partly technological: it is vastly easier to compile
records of postings than it is to cut clippings of letters
to editors (though this will change rapidly as scanners
make this easy)
b) partly sociological: people who write letters know the
letters will be with the back issues in perpetuity, that
bound issues will preserve their words for many
decades to come (and could conceivably come back to
haunt them), but people who post to BBSes probably
think their words are temporary
c) and there are some other factors
(1) no editing
(2) no time delays (and no chance to call an editor and
retract a letter written in haste or anger)
(3) and letters can, and often are, written with the
"Name Witheld" signature-this is currently next to
impossible to do on networks
(a) though some "forwarding" services have informally
sprung up
C. Businesses may wish to protect themselves from
lawsuits over comments by their employees
1. the usual "The opinions expressed here are not those
of my employer" may not be enough to protect an
employer from lawsuits
a) imagine racist or sexist comments leading to lawsuits
(or at least being brought up as evidence of the type of
"attitude" fostered by the company, e.g., "I've worked
for Intel for 12 years and can tell you that blacks make
very poor engineers.")
2. employees may make comments that damage the
reputations of their companies
a) Note: this differs from the current situation, where
free speech takes priority over company concerns,
because the postings to a BBS are carried widely, may
be searched electronically (e.g., AMD lawyers search
the UseNet postings of 1988-91 for any postings by
Intel employees besmirching the quality or whatever
of AMD chips),
3. and so employees of corporations may protect
themselves, and their employers, by adopting
pseudonyms
D. Businesses may seek information without wanting to
alert their competitors
1. this is currently done with agents, "executive search
firms," and lawyers
2. but how will it evolve to handle electronic searches?
3. there are some analogies with filings of "Freedom of
Information Act" requests, and of patents, etc.
a) these "fishing expeditions" will increase with time, as
it becomes profitable for companies to search though
mountains of electronically-filed materials
(1) environmental impact studies, health and safety
disclosures, etc.
(2) could be something that some companies specialize in
E. Anonymous Consultation Services, Anonymous
Stringers or Reporters
1. imagine an information broker, perhaps on an
AMIX-like service, with a network of stringers
a) think of the arms deal newsletter writer in Hallahan's
The Trade, with his network of stringers feeding him
tips and inside information
(1) instead of meeting in secretive locations, a very
expensive proposition (in time and travel), a secure
network can be used
(2) with reputations, digital pseudonyms, etc.
2. they may not wish their actual identities known
a) threats from employers, former employers,
government agencies
b) harassment via the various criminal practices that will
become more common (e.g., the ease with which
assailants and even assassins can be contracted for)
(1) part of the overall move toward anonymity
c) fears of lawsuits, licensing requirements, etc.
3. Candidates for Such Anonymous Consultation
Services
a) An arms deals newsletter
(1) an excellent reputation for accuracy and timely
information
(2) sort of like an electronic form of Jane's
(a) with scandals and government concern
(3) but nobody knows where it comes from
(4) a site that distributes it to subscribers gets it with
another larger batch of forwarded material
(a) NSA, FBI, Fincen, etc. try to track it down
b) "Technology Insider" reports on all kinds of new
technologies
(1) patterned after Hoffler's Microelectronics News, the
Valley's leading tip sheet for two decades
(2) the editor pays for tips, with payments made in two
parts: immediate, and time-dependent, so that the
accuracy of a tip, and its ultimate importance (in the
judgment of the editor) can be proportionately
rewarded
(3) PK systems, with contributors able to encrypt and then
publicly post (using their own means of diffusion)
(a) with their messages containing further material, such
as authentications, where to send the payments, etc.
c) Lundberg's Oil Industry Survey (or similar)
(1) i.e., a fairly conventional newsletter with publicly
known authors
(2) in this case, the author is known, but the identities of
contributors is well-protected
d) A Conspiracy Newsletter
(1) reporting on all of the latest theories of misbehavior
(as in the "Conspiracies" section of this outline)
(2) a wrinkle: a vast hypertext web, with contributors able
to add links and nodes
(a) naturally, their real name-if they don't care about
real-world repercussions-or one of their digital
pseudonyms (may as well use cryptonyms) is attached
i) various algorithms for reputations
(1) sum total of everything ever written, somehow
measured by other comments made, by "voting," etc.
(2) a kind of moving average, allowing for the fact that
learning will occur, just as a researcher probably gets
better with time, and that as reputation-based systems
become better understood, people come to appreciate
the importance of writing carefully
e) and one of the most controversial of all: Yardley's
Intelligence Daily
(1) though it may come out more than daily!
(2) an ex-agent set this up in the mid-90s, soliciting
contributions via an anonymous packet-switching
sysem
(a) refined over the next couple of years
(b) combination of methods
(3) government has been trying hard to identify the
editor, "Yardley"
(4) he offers a payback based on value of the
information, and even has a "Requests" section, and a
Classifed Ad section
(5) a hypertext web, similar to the Conspiracy Newsletter
above
(6) Will Government Try to Discredit the Newsletter
With False Information?
(a) of course, the standard ploy in reputation-based
systems
(b) but Yardley has developed several kinds of filters for
this
i) digital pseudonyms which gradually build up
reputations
ii) cross-checking of his own sort
iii) he even uses language filters to analyze the text
(c) and so what?
i) the world is filled with disinformation, rumors, lies,
half-truths, and somehow things go on....
f) Other AMIX-like Anonymous Services
(1) Drug Prices and Tips
(a) tips on the quality of various drugs (e.g., "Several
reliable sources have told us that the latest Maui
Wowie is very intense, numbers below...")
(b) synthesis of drugs (possibly a separate subscription)
i) designer drugs
ii) home labs
iii) avoiding detection
(2) The Hackers Daily
(a) tips on hacking and cracking
(b) anonymous systems themselves (more tips)
(3) Product evaluations (anonymity needed to allow
honest comments with more protection against
lawsuits)
4. Newspapers Are Becoming Cocerned with the Trend
Toward Paying for News Tips
a) by the independent consultation services
b) but what can they do?
c) lawsuits are tried, to prevent anonymous tips when
payments are involved
(1) their lawyers cite the tax evasion and national security
aspects
F. Private Data Bases
1. any organization offering access to data bases must be
concerned that somebody-a disgruntled customer, a
whistleblower, the government, whoever-will call
for an opening of the files
a) under various "Data Privacy" laws
b) or just in general (tort law, lawsuits, "discovery")
2. thus, steps will be taken to isolate the actual data from
actual users, perhaps via cutouts
a) e.g., a data service sells access, but subcontracts out the
searches to other services via paths that are
untraceable
(1) this probably can't be outlawed in general-though
any specific transaction might later be declared illegal,
etc., at which time the link is cut and a new one is
established-as this would outlaw all subcontracting
arrangements!
(a) i.e., if Joe's Data Service charges $1000 for a search on
widgets and then uses another possibly transitory
(meaning a cutout) data service, the most a lawsuit
can do is to force Joe to stop using this untraceble
service
(b) levels of indirection (and firewalls that stop the
propagation of investigations)
G. Medical Polls (a la AIDS surveys, sexual practices
surveys, etc.)
1. recall the method in which a participant tosses a coin
to answer a question...the analyst can still recover the
important ensemble information, but the "phase" is
lost
a) i.e., an individual answering "Yes" to the question
"Have you ever had xyz sex?" may have really
answered "No" but had his answer flipped by a coin
toss
2. researchers may even adopt sophisticated methods in
which explicit diaries are kept, but which are then
transmitted under an anonymous mailing system to
the researchers
a) obvious dangers of authentication, validity, etc.
H. Medical testing: many reasons for people to seek
anonymity
1. AIDS testing is the preeminent example
2. but also testing for conditions that might affect
insurablity or employment (e.g., people may go to
medical havens in Mexico or wherever for tests that
might lead to uninsurability should insurance
companies learn of the "precondition")
3. except in AIDS and STDs, it is probably both illegal
and against medical ethics to offer anonymous
consultations
a) perhaps people will travel to other countries
VI. Anonymity in Belonging to Certain Clubs, Churches,
or Organizations
A. people fear retaliation or embarassment should their
membership be discovered, now or later
1. e.g., a church member who belongs to controversial
groups or clubs
B. mainly, or wholly, those in which physical contact or
other personal contact is not needed (a limited set)
C. similar to the cell-based systems described elsewhere
D. Candidates for anonymous clubs or organizations
1. Earth First!, Act Up, Animal Liberation Front, etc.
2. NAMBLA and similar controversial groups
E. all of these kinds of groups have very vocal, very
visible members, visible even to the point of seeking
out television coverage
F. but there are probably many more who would join
these groups if there identities could be shielded from
public group, for the sake of their careers, their
families, etc.
G. ironically, the corporate crackdown on outside
activities considered hostile to the corporation (or
exposing them to secondary lawsuits, claims, etc.) may
cause greater use of anonymous systems
1. cell-based membership in groups
H. the growth of anonymous membership in groups
(using pseudonyms) has a benefit in increasing
membership by people otherwise afraid to join, for
example, a radical environmental group
VII. Anonymity in Giving Advice or Pointers to
Information
A. suppose someone says who is selling some illegal or
contraband product...is this also illegal?
B. hypertext systems will make this inevitable
VIII. Anonymous Voting in Clubs, Organizations,
Churches, etc.
A. a major avenue for spreading CA methods: "electronic
blackballing," weighted voting (as with number of
shares)
1. e.g., a corporation, perhaps one of JH's, issues "voting
tokens," which can be used to vote anonymously
a) or even sold to others (like selling shares, except
selling only the voting right for a specific election is
cheaper, and many people don't much care about
elections)
2. a way to protect against deep pockets lawsuits in, say,
race discrimination cases
a) wherein a director is sued for some action the
company takes-anonymity will give him some legal
protection, some "plausible deniability"
3. is possible to set up systems (cf. Salomaa) in which
some "supervotes" have blackball power, but the use
of these vetos is indistinguishable from a standard
majority rules vote
a) i.e., nobody, except the blackballer(s), will know
whether the blackball was used!
b) will the government seek to limit this kind of
protocol?
(1) claiming discrimination potential or abuse of voting
rights?
B. will Justice Department (or SEC) seek to overturn
anonymous voting?
1. as part of the potential move to a "full disclosure"
society?
2. related to antidiscrimination laws, accountability, etc.
C. Anonymous Voting in Reputation-Based Systems
(Journals, Markets)
1. customers can vote on products, on quality of service,
on the various deals they've been involved in
a) not clear how the voting rights would get distributed
b) the idea is to avoid lawsuits, sanctions by vendors, etc.
(as with the Bose suit)
2. Journals
a) a canonical example, and one which I must include,
as it combines anonymous refereeing (already
standard, in primitive forms), hypertext (links to
reviews), and basic freedom of speech issues
b) this will likely be an early area of use
3. this whole area of consumer reviews may be a way to
get CA bandwidth up and running (lots of
PK-encrypted traffic sloshing around the various nets)
IX. the 100% traceability of public postings to UseNet and
other bulletin boards is very stifling to free expression
and becomes one of the main justifications for the use
of anonymous (or pseudononymous) boards and nets
A. there may be calls for laws against such compilation,
as with the British data laws, but basically there is
little that can be done when postings go to tens of
thousands of machines and are archived in perpetuity
by many of these nodes and by thousands of readers
B. readers who may incorporate the material into their
own postings, etc. (hence the absurdity of the British
law)
