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This is the Cypherwonks mailing list
Below is The Cypherwonk Charter, by L. Detweiler, Cypherwonk Janitor
The cypherwonks are a splinter group from the cypherpunks also
interested in promoting and implementing cryptographic technology.
However, we have unique ideas on how to successfully implement these
radical new capabilities to ensure privacy without encouraging criminal
behaviors like forgery and `online predation'. We are also interested
in a far more ambitious goal of `technological progress' that
transcends a mere obsession with privacy and anonymity. The cypherwonks
believe that many aspects of a identification and government are
necessary and crucial for any social stability (particularly related to
judicial and law enforcement systems), and are quite alarmed at talk
about a `cryptoanarchy' resulting from the mere implementation of
software protocols -- although we realize that radical new forms of
government may appear with these new technologies, embodied in one term
`Electronic Democracy'.
We believe that while sometimes the `majority' can become a `tyranny',
in general the idea of voting as a civilized way of resolving proposals
and `one person, one vote' are sacred, and we are interested in
implementing systems that promote interaction and collaboration among
motivated and enthusiastic members, whether within the cypherwonk
organization or within their nations (cypherwonks, of course, try to
think free of local prejudices, and globally).
Cypherwonks understand that *trust* and *honesty* are inherent in all
human endeavors, *particularly* communication. We recognize that people
trust others not to reveal our private email unless given permission,
we trust others not to use information from our mail or about their
identities to adverse aims, we trust that systems delivering mail will
not be corrupted by criminals, or if they get caught there will be
serious consequences, and many other explicit and implicit variations.
We know that there are many ingenious ways of minimizing the amount of
trust required in unknown components such as with the use of
cryptography or pseudonyms, and we seek passionately to invent and use
them, but at the root level, email is an exchange between human beings
who trust each other. Therefore, we hold a sense of ethics and morality
in strong reverence, and even though we're not always precisely sure
what they entail, we know that they exist and we strive for the right
ideal. We abhor the idea that `it's not wrong if you can get away with
it' or other variations of moral relativism.
Cypherwonks are also extremely interested in promoting and implementing
`digital cash', but believe that while invariably the state's taxes
tend to become burdensome, few civilized, technological societies are
free of them, and certainly we do not advocate tax evasion, `black
marketeering', or any other subversive or illegal activities through
cryptographic techniques, and even beyond this we seek design protocols
that discourage these subversive aims in general, because of their
toxic, fragmentary effect on social unity.
Cypherwonks recognize that our mailing list is extremely critical in
coordinating our movement and our fellow members. It is our central
nervous system. While the list is informal, we demand a professional
atmosphere, and will privately object to people who are publicly rude
or belligerent. But we are also extremely careful about what we say to
each other in private, because people can be extremely influenced by
what they receive in mail. We would be aghast and horrified to find
that somebody viciously criticized someone in private mail based on
public postings, for example. We place high value on being courteous to
each other and minimizing disagreement where possible, forging
consensus, and the art of diplomacy in surmounting political barriers.
We trust each other on the list and in personal email. We wish to have
an open, uplifting, inspiring, honest, representative, polite,
respectful, egalitarian dialogue. We will never use the mailing list
for personal or selfish reasons -- we strive to serve our fellow
cypherwonks through our postings. We are what we claim to be. We abhor
secrecy, `security through obscurity', and conspirational cliques.
Cypherwonks are extremely interested in promoting some forms of
anonymity. However, we do not necessarily believe that others are
required to read anonymous postings. To the contrary, we believe that
the individual should have the tools and freedom to filter his or her
own mail based on real identities. In particular, we condemn the
practice of `pseudospoofing,' the dangerous deception where a person
builds up a pseudonym and misrepresents it as being that of a real
person's identity. We police each other on the list to prevent it, and
require a promise that our members refrain from it. While our trust can
be betrayed, only those that are honest are true cypherwonks, and
anyone who betrays our trust we consider a dishonist hypocrite, or worse, a tra
*itor.
Cypherwonks are extremely interested in building tangible systems.
Engineers who love to discuss the nitty-gritty details of some scheme
are at home on the cypherwonks list. We like to impress each other with
our knowledge but at the same time state it in relevant and humble
terms. We are not trying to win popularity contests with our postings.
We are trying to accomplish ambitious endeavors. We are especially
ecstatic to make connections with other cypherwonks interested in the
same projects we are, and cooperating to build useful tools. We like to
give status reports of our intermittent real-world meetings and
