--I said--
Hmm.. this would allow us to prove that THE LIST thinks he's who he says he is.. or who THE LIST tells us he is.. Now, I am not paranoid against THE LIST, but I suggest that THE PEOPLE should not filter THEIR thoughts. What of censorship [on an aside, is there a censor apprenticeship? Why the 'ship?']!? If you must censor..
--Jim says--
As to why you might want to check against a list, consider it private and a priviledge to participate in.
Sounds along the lines of "It's a privilage, not a right" [granted, this is a privately run list.. but that's not what we're about.. at least that's what I've been led to believe]
Bottom line, don't you want to know that the person you think you are respondingto today is the same person you were communicating last week etc? Don't you want to keep someone from pretending to be you and sending out opinions etc. which might damage your reputation or misrepresent you?
I want to know that the people I'm talking to are the people I think they are.. and that is why I do my own authentication, when I can. If I trust the machine to do it for me, then I've just shot two large holes in my objective. [THE LIST database could me tampered with; The PGP sigs could be forged from the start]
This is NOT censorship i.e. it does NOT stop you from expressing your views, it only ensures that a message which appears to be from you really IS from you.
It IS censorship if people's posts are trashed because they are either anonymous or a forger.. even forged posts are sometimes important.. See my other posts regarding LIST authentication, not filtering. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - DrZaphod #Don't Come Any Closer Or I'll Encrypt! - - [AC/DC] / [DnA][HP] #Xcitement thru Technology and Creativity - - [drzaphod@brewmeister.xstablu.com] [MindPolice Censored This Bit] - - 50 19 1C F3 5F 34 53 B7 B9 BB 7A 40 37 67 09 5B - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-