Someone on the FutureCulture list asked about Cypherpunks. I took the opportunity to be the first to reply, to try to get 1) hard information there and 2) some practical advice on how to participate. I hope my tone was not too discouraging. Others might want to take advantage of the "instant faq" I threw together, if you see queries in other places. strick cypherpunks write code Forwarded message: # Subject: about Cypherpunks # To: FUTUREC@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU # Date: Thu, 14 Oct 93 13:54:27 PDT # From: henry strickland <strick@osc.versant.com> # # # Does anyone here know about Cypherpunks? # # The list is pretty high volume, and is currently experiencing # signal/noise problems, but that should be nothing new to FCers :-) # # <cypherpunks-request@toad.com> # # You might first check out the archives # # ftp://soda.berkeley.edu:/pub/cypherpunks # # to see if it holds your interest. It is a list on which you # should do some serious reading before beginning to post. # # # # cypherpunk strick # cypherpunks love to practice # # # # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- # # Cypherpunks assume privacy is a good thing and wish there were more # of it. Cypherpunks acknowledge that those who want privacy must # create it for themselves and not expect governments, corporations, or # other large, faceless organizations to grant them privacy out of # beneficence. Cypherpunks know that people have been creating their # own privacy for centuries with whispers, envelopes, closed doors, and # couriers. Cypherpunks do not seek to prevent other people from # speaking about their experiences or their opinions. # # The most important means to the defense of privacy is encryption. To # encrypt is to indicate the desire for privacy. But to encrypt with # weak cryptography is to indicate not too much desire for privacy. # Cypherpunks hope that all people desiring privacy will learn how best # to defend it. # # Cypherpunks are therefore devoted to cryptography. Cypherpunks wish # to learn about it, to teach it, to implement it, and to make more of # it. Cypherpunks know that cryptographic protocols make social # structures. Cypherpunks know how to attack a system and how to # defend it. Cypherpunks know just how hard it is to make good # cryptosystems. # # Cypherpunks love to practice. They love to play with public key # cryptography. They love to play with anonymous and pseudonymous mail # forwarding and delivery. They love to play with DC-nets. They love # to play with secure communications of all kinds. # # Cypherpunks write code. They know that someone has to write code to # defend privacy, and since it's their privacy, they're going to write # it. Cypherpunks publish their code so that their fellow cypherpunks # may practice and play with it. Cypherpunks realize that security is # not built in a day and are patient with incremental progress. # # Cypherpunks don't care if you don't like the software they write. # Cypherpunks know that software can't be destroyed. Cypherpunks know # that a widely dispersed system can't be shut down. # # Cypherpunks will make the networks safe for privacy. # # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- # # # A Cypherpunk's Manifesto # # by Eric Hughes # # Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age. # Privacy is not secrecy. A private matter is something one doesn't # want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one # doesn't want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selectively # reveal oneself to the world. # # If two parties have some sort of dealings, then each has a memory of # their interaction. Each party can speak about their own memory of # this; how could anyone prevent it? One could pass laws against it, # but the freedom of speech, even more than privacy, is fundamental to # an open society; we seek not to restrict any speech at all. If many # parties speak together in the same forum, each can speak to all the # others and aggregate together knowledge about individuals and other # parties. The power of electronic communications has enabled such # group speech, and it will not go away merely because we might want it # to. # # Since we desire privacy, we must ensure that each party to a # transaction have knowledge only of that which is directly necessary # for that transaction. Since any information can be spoken of, we # must ensure that we reveal as little as possible. In most cases # personal identity is not salient. When I purchase a magazine at a # store and hand cash to the clerk, there is no need to know who I am. # When I ask my electronic mail provider to send and receive messages, # my provider need not know to whom I am speaking or what I am saying # or what others are saying to me; my provider only need know how to # get the message there and how much I owe them in fees. When my # identity is revealed by the underlying mechanism of the transaction, # I have no privacy. I cannot here selectively reveal myself; I must # _always_ reveal myself. # # Therefore, privacy in an open society requires anonymous transaction # systems. Until now, cash has been the primary such system. An # anonymous transaction system is not a secret transaction system. An # anonymous system empowers individuals to reveal their identity when # desired and only when desired; this is the essence of privacy. # # Privacy in an open society also requires cryptography. If I say # something, I want it heard only by those for whom I intend it. If # the content of my speech is available to the world, I have no # privacy. To encrypt is to indicate the desire for privacy, and to # encrypt with weak cryptography is to indicate not too much desire for # privacy. Furthermore, to reveal one's identity with assurance when # the default is anonymity requires the cryptographic signature. # # We cannot expect governments, corporations, or other large, faceless # organizations to grant us privacy out of their beneficence. It is to # their advantage to speak of us, and we should expect that they will # speak. To try to prevent their speech is to fight against the # realities of information. Information does not just want to be free, # it longs to be free. Information expands to fill the available # storage space. Information is Rumor's younger, stronger cousin; # Information is fleeter of foot, has more eyes, knows more, and # understands less than Rumor. # # We must defend our own privacy if we expect to have any. We must # come together and create systems which allow anonymous transactions # to take place. People have been defending their own privacy for # centuries with whispers, darkness, envelopes, closed doors, secret # handshakes, and couriers. The technologies of the past did not allow # for strong privacy, but electronic technologies do. # # We the Cypherpunks are dedicated to building anonymous systems. We # are defending our privacy with cryptography, with anonymous mail # forwarding systems, with digital signatures, and with electronic # money. # # Cypherpunks write code. We know that someone has to write software # to defend privacy, and since we can't get privacy unless we all do, # we're going to write it. We publish our code so that our fellow # Cypherpunks may practice and play with it. Our code is free for all # to use, worldwide. We don't much care if you don't approve of the # software we write. We know that software can't be destroyed and that # a widely dispersed system can't be shut down. # # Cypherpunks deplore regulations on cryptography, for encryption is # fundamentally a private act. The act of encryption, in fact, removes # information from the public realm. Even laws against cryptography # reach only so far as a nation's border and the arm of its violence. # Cryptography will ineluctably spread over the whole globe, and with # it the anonymous transactions systems that it makes possible. # # For privacy to be widespread it must be part of a social contract. # People must come and together deploy these systems for the common # good. Privacy only extends so far as the cooperation of one's # fellows in society. We the Cypherpunks seek your questions and your # concerns and hope we may engage you so that we do not deceive # ourselves. We will not, however, be moved out of our course because # some may disagree with our goals. # # The Cypherpunks are actively engaged in making the networks safer for # privacy. Let us proceed together apace. # # Onward. # # Eric Hughes # <hughes@soda.berkeley.edu> # # 9 March 1993 # #