At 1:04 PM 5/15/96 -0400, Black Unicorn wrote:
On Tue, 14 May 1996, blanc wrote:
From: Hal [on the idea of companies operating fully anonymously]
It might be interesting to make a list of all the problems people can think of why this idea won't work, paired with proposed solutions and workarounds - sort of a mini FAQ for this important (some might say ultimate) cypherpunk model. .....................................................................
I think this is a much needed discussion - in particular as it comes at a time when Uni is is "somewhat disconcerted" at the defeatist attitude of some cypherpunks and since TCMay is getting ready to read us the Cypherpunks Bill of Rights regarding the subsidizatoin of other's people's cyber existence (heh).
3 problems which immediately come to mind:
. What if someone, hired on one occasion but fired at another, decides in anger to "turn coat" and report everyone to the IRS (or other fine government agency)?
The entire organization would clearly have to be double blinded. If this can be done for mailing lists (which I believe it can) it can be done for corporations too. The real trick is getting the costs of anonymous (and I mean secure anonymous) communications low enough.
If all you need to do is beat the cost of commuting 20 miles/day, no problem.
. What if a company does not pay as expected - other than adopting Assassination Politics, what method could an employee use towards getting their expected remuneration for work done?
If payment is made weekly, it should be made in advance to an escrow agent who would issue a certificate that the payment for employee r2dd54 has been received. The payment would then not be released to anyone without the consent of the corporation and the employee.
Obviously the escrow agent would have to be trusted.
...
Even if a payment gets hung up in a dispute, it's only for a week.
You could require daily payment and forgo the escrow agent. (Assuming you are willing to risk a day's pay as an experiment in reputation.) Note that AP won't work if everyone is anonymous because you won't have a target. What may be a problem for such a company is a social problem. All the creative groups I have worked with have had close personal relations. (Although they have not had wide agreement on significant non-work subjects!) I don't know if good, creative, group-produced products can be built without such a relationship. Does anyone know of an example of such a product from an "anonymous" environment? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bill Frantz | The CDA means | Periwinkle -- Computer Consulting (408)356-8506 | lost jobs and | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@netcom.com | dead teenagers | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA