David Mandl says:
In the light of recent developments concerning government cryptography initiatives, we might soon find ourselves innundated by working press.
Given this, I think that the name "cypherpunks" produces the wrong connotations -- it makes us sound like criminals when we are in fact people who are interested in expanding personal privacy with technology. Often, little things like this end up being of tremendous importance in the long haul.
I would propose changing the name of the mailing list to "cryptoprivacy" or something similar. It denotes what we are about in a way that mundane people understand better, and it portrays us in the proper light -- as people struggling to improve the prospects for personal freedom, not a bunch of "punks".
Perry
Perry, I'm absolutely stunned. What next: should we all make sure we shave every day (women: don't forget those legs and armpits!)? Or make tcmay remove the word "anarchy" and other ungood words from his .sig?
I notice, David, that you wear a tie when you come in to work in the morning. (I happen to work with Dave.) Why do you do this, in spite of your general dislike for imposed standards? Because you want something out of your employer and feel its better to put up with the minor inconvenience of wearing a tie. Look, we can give people cryptography, or we can change their notions of what "punk" means. Its not necessarily possible to do both at the same time. I vote for keeping the world free, and putting up with minor inconveniences in the meantime. I never liked "cypherpunks" in the first place. I'm not a punk. I'm a reasonable person. Reasonable people want the world to be free -- its not just a "punk" viewpoint. We want people to have privacy via cryptography. Something like "cryptoprivacy" seems like a better reflection of who we are. Perry