<rm> } A lot of people forget the basic truth that the net is based }almost entirely on physical communications facilities owned for the most }part by huge corperations that have deeply incestuous relationships with }the political power structure and very little interest in preserving the }self important dreams of a few members of a self selected net "elite". }If ordered to pull the plug they will, and cyberspace as we know it will }evaporate overnight. Why should businesses cooperate with and help protect a govt that it's needs would be better met without their existance? Eve in the near future during which busniesses will play by _most_ of the rules, those businesses that own most of the net will not shut it down because it conflicts with their business interests in a _major_ way. Shutting down the internet for even a day would loose these people so much money and time that if the govt were to ask them to shut it down, they would seriously believe that they are joking. They would laugh, and the govt wouldn't be able to do shit about it. The net is something that has grown like ivy in an ivy-league school; it can never be eradicated. Too many people rely on it, it is too big an income for big business and none of those businessed could shut it down completely. Routing errors, misplaced domains, sure, but the net would survive and it would heal it's own wounds. <rm> } } A defeated pessimist, } die@die.com I believe that most of us on this group are here because we have principles that compel us to fight for our freedom and privacy. For me, those principles are strong enough that if to die fighting for them is my fate, than that is how I will give my life. To lay down my arms, to give up before I'm dead or the war is over is to bring shame and dishonor upon myself that I could not bear to live with. I would never be able to look my unborn children in the eyes again because I would know that I did not do my part in the fight; I did not stand my ground. BTW, I just turned 22 years old in January and if I hear anyone , especially anyone on this list, call my generation a bunch of slackers again, I will seek you out, tie you to a chair and force you to watch every episode of Guiligan's Island and The Brady Bunch five times each. lunaslide "Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." - -- Abraham Lincoln On the meridian of time there is no injustice, only the poetry of motion creating the illusion of truth and drama. Henry Miller ________________________________________________________________ -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.2 mQCPAzEX3QEAAAEEAOGQjhnqGH29pO1WDaXs5GFOVPhCBWyYEk9XEwRmscjveWzH AhA6DeOA480zWNqQURyqE2yPmR8WzT+OXYqmeiQiycKyFA41Vs/Ruf+gXXxe7uXS L5BK3K8oKbfoH0D5/TAkMT4r6BprXFQz4pFc3gY2SSaSPElpMjKHaKBsRsyRABEB AAG0HUplZmYgQ29ubiA8bHVuYXNsaWRlQGxvb3AuY29tiQCVAwUQMRffHzKHaKBs RsyRAQGNhwP9E9xEZ9/LCKnhgtnrqgD7pDoXG2pCy8FoyfFjoImGkG+jF1wELXmB Z0mf8F8CgYkys0mif1XeGDMelr1gzlZAm6LgQt4kcvztMW/aRLn18QP+iwltVT/L p8D37mitOjvuk46sWgAChIaPPPIeg/EaYQjQkmlpWKsEYIoTRy+E8mU= =4Gku -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----