~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT Reply to: ssandfort@attmail.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cypherpunks, Yes, strong crypto can be used for "good or evil." That's true of any tool. And yes, dwelling on the darker applications may be politically counter-productive. But do any of you think that curtailing such discussions will slow up the enemies of privacy for one second? Strong crypto is a threat to the powers that be. Period. We know that, and so do they. The will find reasons to try and stop it. If necessary, they will *manufacture* reasons. They don't care about kiddie porn or terrorism; they care about their power base. And their power base depends on their ability to extract tribute. Strong crypto and international diversification undermine their ability to collect taxes. They are going to fight it no matter how innocuously we present ourselves. I do think we should emphasize *attributes*, not particular *applications*. People who need strong crypto will understand its potential. We don't have to draw pictures. As for the "negative" uses, don't worry, our enemies will gladly describe them. S a n d y
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