I'm in Warsaw doing some consulting for a local ISP and got invited to an Internet conference last night targeted toward government ministry officials. Even though I speak no Polish, I decided to go because Esther Dyson was one of the keynotes. The three day conference is being held outside of Warsaw. The location has to be one of the most unique conference settings I've ever seen. How about in a classroom of what appeared to be the government police training barracks. Guarded gates, barking German shepherds in kennels, and armed, marching cops in camo fatigues. Interesting. Got to suggest it to the DefCon folks instead of Vegas. Anyway, not knowing what Esther was going to talk about, I started to smile when she launched into a very pro-crypto (as in anti-key escrow) presentation. Through a translator, she did a good job of covering most of the issues near and dear to Cypherpunks's hearts. She closed with urging the Polish officials to make their own decisions regarding privacy and crypto, and not be swayed by the actions of the US government. Someone in the audience asked what the average American thought of the ongoing crypto controversy. Esther answered correctly, that they're mostly clueless. Of course I had to stand up and mention the grassroots Cypherpunk efforts just to let folks know not everyone besides EFF is idly standing by (I think my host did a pretty good job of translating). Esther's comment was that Cypherpunks weren't average. You decide if that was a compliment or not. I don't know. Despite the bashing she got on the list about anonymity, I was impressed. Presenting the issues in a very logical and rational manner to government officials in "crypto-neutral" territory counts for something in my book. Anyway, based on all of the nonsense going on in the US, it's interesting to be in an environment where there are strong concerns about privacy and government abuses by the average citizen. I think Americans have taken for granted many things, that only living under a repressive regime would make them appreciate. Joel