In a rare moment of lucidity Vladimir Z. Dettweiler wrote:
I think cpunks should hold the view that communication is a matter of mutual consent between sender and receiver. if a receiver says, "I don't want any anonymous messages", then should be able to block them.
But this is precisely what nearly all of us have been arguing. Namely, that the issue of anonymity vs. providing of True Names, is a matter of _contract_ between parties, not something the government is justified in sticking its nose into. Those who wish to not deal with the entities they cannot reliably verify the True Name of are free to filter them out. All we are asking is that those of us happy to deal with S. Boxx, Black Unicorn, PrOduct Cypher, Pablo Escobar, and other pseudospoofing tentacles, not be told by a government that, for our own good, such communications are felonies.
the above is almost exactly what Dyson was saying, and I have been
No, Dyson said "Therefore I would favor allowing anonymity -- with some form of traceability only under terms considerably stronger than what are generally required for a wiretap." This implies a role for government, and concomitant restrictions on related anonymity technologies, to provide traceability. So much for mutual agreement between sender and recipient. (I have nothing against senders and recipients agreeing to use the services of some third party in providing ultimate traceability. I'm not wild about the U.S. Government being this third party, paid for by tax money, but so long as it is not required, it's a minor concern to me. I surmise, though, that use of the U.S. Government as a third party would not be optional, in the schemes of Dyson, Denning, and others of that ilk.) --Tim May We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."