Tim May:
If cops ask local neighborhood members to report any suspicious activity, the folks know that any benefits they gain from acting as informants tend to be a lot smaller than the danger of being beat up or even killed by the Mafia.
When the cost of acting as an informant is zero, no risk, more people act as informants.
I think restoring some risk to being a rat is a good thing.
Unbelievable. The man who invented Blacknet, who has called for and supported the idea of offshore data havens, now tries to control the flow of information! What the hell do you call people who rat you out about your bad debts, if not informants? The whole point of the cypherpunk movement is to make it easier and less risky to spread information even when there are those who want to suppress it. This is just another example of May's hypocrisy and lack of critical thinking abilities. He's all for crypto anarchy until he realizes his own ass is vulnerable. Then he starts trying to think of ways to keep people from exchanging information he doesn't like. Here's a clue. If and when crypto anarchy ever becomes a reality, Tim May is going to be one of the first ones killed. He's pissed off too many people. Once they can get retribution anonymously, his days are numbered.