On Wed, 18 Apr 2001, Sunder wrote:
Ray Dillinger wrote:
On Sun, 15 Apr 2001, Declan McCullagh wrote:
And your possible motive for spreading the word about his reputation, which ties you to an illicit transaction, is what exactly?
Wouldn't your own reputation be blinded by a nym anyway?
Nyms are not as hard as most of you seem to assume. Each instance of a nym's use is more data for traffic analysis, and writing styles contain "signature" usages that can identify particular writers with a high degree of probability. If the probability is ever deemed high enough that a search warrant can issue, and your nym is involved in all kinds of illicit deals which are verifiable through the reputation system, then you have a problem because the lions are likely to come take your favorite toys away, and may even put you through a "trial" like the one that just happened to Mr. Bell. Hmm. A worthwhile hack; I should develop a program that uses the known techniques of identifying a writer by his/her style, and then create "styles" to conform to for each nym. If I can fool my program, then there's at least a prayer of fooling other people's. Bear