According to Norman Hardy:
J. Michael Diehl wrote: I'm having a philosophical problem regarding when to sign someone else's public key.
It strikes me that while a public key may be properly associated with someone that you know by sight it may more generally be associated with an abstract reputation. Connecting a face to a public key may be less useful than connecting a public key with someone that I recognize by reputation. I don't know Stephen Wolff by sight but I do know him by reputation and have conversed with him by e-mail. If during these conversations we had exchanged public keys, even thru insecure channels, then that would be more reliable than exchanging keys with someone that I met in person who claimed to be Steve Wolff but with whom I did not have time to converse. Steve's reputation with me arose thru a book he wrote. If he had included his private key there it would be better yet. (Public keys had not been invented then.) Having been influenced by Steve's book I would be inclined to accept Steve's opinions in related areas, if they were signed by his private key. I need not know what Steve looks like!
This is a good point, but I believe that eventually, people will want to sign legal documents via pgp and such. So being able to tie a pseudonym to a reputation to a public key to a REAL LIVE PERSON is very important. I think that for many people, your attitude is one they can live with. This is what I was debating when I posted the original question. But for others, your policy may not be secure enough. I'm working on a key-signing policy for myself which I will make available via finger or request. Laters. +-----------------------+-----------------------------+---------+ | J. Michael Diehl ;-) | I thought I was wrong once. | PGP KEY | | mdiehl@triton.unm.edu | But, I was mistaken. |available| | mike.diehl@fido.org | | Ask Me! | | (505) 299-2282 +-----------------------------+---------+ | | +------"I'm just looking for the opportunity to be -------------+ | Politically Incorrect!" <Me> | +-----If codes are outlawed, only criminals wil have codes.-----+ +----Is Big Brother in your phone? If you don't know, ask me---+