On Tue, 24 Sep 1996, Super User wrote:
Hello!
Thank you for your interest in our anonymous service. We believe our remailer to be the best on the 'Net.
Wasn't aware I'd asked for any information regarding your 'anonymous' service. Whether you believe it to be the best on the net or not, I was completely unaware of it's existence.
The service costs $5.00 a month and will allow you to send mail anywhere on the internet with a false ("spoofed") return address. THIS IS INTENDED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!
Hmm... I've heard of remailers being run for legitimate reasons like protecting freedom of speech, allowing a means to disseminate information anonymously, and simply protecting the identity of the person sending the message, but never for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY...
Q: How does the service work?
Ok, I'll bite..
A: You simply send your letter to anon@interlink-bbs.com, following the format which we will detail when you subscribe, and your letter will be remailed with the new return address.
Don't I encrypt it first with the public key of your remailer? Otherwise, how can I instruct the mailer which next hops to make? And since I'm sending all this in the clear to your remailer, don't I end up being open for a man in the middle attack, traffic analysis, and just plain anybody with a sniffer on my ISPs terminal servers.
Q: Can I post to USENET with your remailer? A: Yes, if you use a gateway. We will provide complete instructions at your request (assuming you have an account).
Ah, so I can post the hundreds of kiddie porn pics I have through your service and be moderately untraceable?
Q: Can I send files? A: If you uuencode them first, yes.
Well, naturally. Most mail systems on the internet have serious problems digesting binary objects. Oh, I guess you were expecting that I'd use the Microsoft Mailer...
Q: May I test your service for free? A: No.
Yet another question I didn't ask.
Q: Does anyone ever complain about receiving mail which has been forwarded from InterLink? A: Sometimes. What we do is we block the address of the complainer so that no more mail may be forwarded to that address.
Sounds like a plan. Can I have my name removed from your unsolicited mailing list this way? When I start running a remailer service, I think I'll adopt that strategy, if possible. Of course, MY remailer will be a cypherpunks style remailer or a mixmaster. And it'll be free, too. Of course, people will need to know a little bit about crypto and privacy to use it... but hey, ya gotta keep out the riff-raff somehow.
Repeated complaints will result in your account being closed. This has not been a problem in the past, however, perhaps because no one knew to whom a complaint could be sent!
Or perhaps because no one in their right minds believes your remailer to be anonymous.