At 12:38 AM 5/19/96, Mark M. wrote:
It is possible for someone to operate an anonymous remailer anonymously. Just get a UNIX shell account under a fake name, pay with cash, and set up the remailing software. The identity of the operator of such a remailer would be difficult, if not impossible, to discover.
I'm always surprised that this hasn't been happening; maybe it will when the new clients become available. (Doesn't Sameer's system offer such accounts? Couldn't there be dozens of remailers based at c2.org? Of the 16 Type-1 remailers listed in one of Raph's recent reports, only 2 were at c2.org.) Now, can a site which "offers" such accounts be held liable? If the site drops an account when presented with _appropriate_ legal papers (a court order, such as an injunction), and if it takes a "hands-off" policy with respect to what customers run in their accounts, then it ought to be safe from actual liability. (I am not a lawyer, but it seems that having no prior knowledge of acts committed, and complying with court orders, reduces the likelihood of successful suits to near zero. Note that Netcom did _not_ cancel the COS-related accounts, and so extended its legal hassles.) The advantage of "pliable" remailers (which go away when hit) is that: Cost of preparing case to stop a remailer >> cost of setting up a new remailer Thus, it might cost the Church of Scientology $10,000 in various fees to get "account42666@c2.org" to stop remailing, but only $20 (or even less) to create "account98410@c2.org." Ideally, such remailers should require no involvement at all by the account holder. Just a "start" command, by the account holder. (Not the site administrator, as this could be construed as involvement by him.) But an "instant remailer" (just add water) is needed. Recent questions here on the list about what it takes to run a remailer may mean some advice is needed. Running a remailer function should never be thought of as being the same as running a site. Most of the existing remailers are certainly not being run on machines _owned_ by those running the remailers. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."