Cypherpunks, The CFP98 program committee is considering a panel (or possibly a pre-conference tutorial) for next year entitled something like "How to Choke the Net." (The provocative title is NOT intended to espouse the practice of net-choking NOR to provide hands-on techniques.) "Many have argued that the net is so decentralized that no one country or force could control it, but is that really true? Many, including religions (Scientologists) and countries (China, et alia) have tried, but is the net so decentralized that it cannot be controlled, or are there choke points at which a single entity (or cartel of entities) could exploit to shape the net for their own political purposes, despite the efforts of others. The panel will explore the current state of the decentralization of the net and its potential for exploitation in an educational-style format." Discussion topics may include host authentication, denial-of-service attacks, DNS, IPSEC, routing issues and SYN-flooding, etc. If any of you has any course materials you'd like to deliver on the topic of Internet vulnerabilities and defenses, please contact me. dave