On Thu, 10 Mar 1994, Timothy C. May wrote:
Anyone contemplating a "Mom and Pop remailer" should also think about implementing the basic features of an "ideal mix," the remailer mix scheme described by David Chaum in his 1981 "Communications of the ACM" paper. It's been discussed here many times, particularly by Hal Finney and myself, and others, in exchanges about the properties remailers (mixes) should have. I recently wrote a long article on "Remailers: The Next Generation," which you may want to reread.
I myself am very new to the net, and also to crypto, soI have not seen these papers before. Is ther an archive where I could find them? Or could you possibly mail me a copy of your "Remailers: The Next Generation" if it is not already archived someplace I could find it. I do have a fw questions about remailers myself actually. Would I still be able to recieve mail at my account? Just how much attention does it bring? Is it feasible for a student on a conservative system(read fascist) to get away with a low profile one? I know low profile is not the goal, but I do want to help if possbile.
Of course, truly good remailers open up the operators for interesting liability issues, lacking the ability to log users and isolate problem users or recipients. Just so you're ready for this.
this is a concern of mine actually. I am really more worried about what would happen to fellow cypherpunks interested in this if the prototypes were quickly attacked by the law, than wether I would get in trouble or not. I myself am rooted in the U.S. as far as the forseeable future goes, so I definetly need to consider these things. What would be the legal implications of me operating a site with a physical location outside the U.S. from a site in the U.S. By telnetting to it or something? Would that system be subject to the laws of my nation, or would the be subject to the nation of there physical location. hehe, actually this may be a good idea, just to add to legal confusion for the lawyers to shovel thru if they want to get to me or the system. This way we could have a foreign IP addres, a US operator and perhaps users from various nations, rendering us a nice thick soup of legalities.
The obvious question: why would Joe User want storage space on someone else's system when he could encrypt on his own system? Unless you plan to locate the storage space outside the U.S. legal jurisdiction, which is where things get interesting of course. (I know some folks who've been talking about doing this for years now.)
Yeah it would be hairy at the least. Well one reason to allow storage space is for those who do not have a system at home, students using labs, those who only acces is on a company machine, which could easily be watched, or if encryptian becomes illegal, or heavily restricted, it would take pressure off of some people to let someone else hold the evidence so to speak. I never thought of putting it outside US jurisdiction myself, but it's a good idea, hmmm.
Yes, this is the whole idea, the whole motivation for the existing web or Cyperpunks remailers. Strenght in numbers, really _big_ numbers.
This reminds me of something, what is the policy towardsreposting letters here to various boards on BBSs where there may be interested people? Like would you mind if I posted your rant there? I have posted a few things from cypherpunks already, like anon-remailerinfo and how to use and set-up one, in the Undergroud Forum on ISCA, which is a very big system. I would think it is welcomed but thought I should check it out. I think that the more people you touch the more people you'll eventually have involved more deeply.
Data havens, a la Sterling, or even a la BlackNet, are indeed one such market. Probably not the first, though.
gee, can you tell I just finished Islands In The Net 8) hehe. Amazing the power of a meme huh? You're eqipped with a hundred billion nueron brain, that's wired and fired, and it's a reality generating device, but you've got too do it. Free youself ----Tim Leary----