Glenn Tenney, chairman of the Hackers Conference, has asked me to help put together the crypto session at the Conference next week (6-8 November, Lake Tahoe). I of course agreed....our correspondence is attached below. Sorry if I left off your name in my comments to Glenn ...it seems sometimes that nearly everyone I know has some interest in crypology, privacy, cyberspace, AND is going to Hackers! For those not going to Hackers this year, I'd still like your inputs, and I'll write up some kind of update after it's over, so you'll get some feedback on your ideas. This growing interest in cryptology and the protection of privacy--fanned by the availability of PGP 2.0, the books and articles on hackers and crackdowns by the Feds, the activities of the EFF and CPSR, and by our very own "Cypherpunks" crypto group--should make for an extremely interesting time at Hackers this year. Just about every year at Hackers there's a de facto theme. One year it was hypertext (and Xanadu got started when John Walker of Autodesk met Ted Nelson, Mark Miller, Roger Gregory, and others at Hackers in 1987), another year it was multimedia. Last year it was effectively the EFF, and so on. My hunch is that this year the de facto theme _could_ turn out to be crypto tools and digital protection of privacy. In addition to our session, there will be discussions of wireless communication, the work of the EFF, and a Sunday discussion of these critical issues. These will all fit nicely with our own session. Our session is in "prime time," mid-Saturday afternoon, tentatively (you all know how schedules change!), and is one of the "no competitors" tracks, so attendance should be very high. Accordingly, some premium should be placed on organization, to maximize the information flow. Too many people for the "circle discussion" that worked so well at last year's nanotechnology session (run by Ted Kaehler), so we need to figure out a good format. So give me your inputs! (Also, I think we should get togther informally Friday to bounce ideas around, the better to make the session on Saturday richer and more exciting. I'll let you know in the next several days what we decide, and where we'll meet.) * What topics need to be discussed the most? * What format? Panel discussion? A series of mini-lectures on the various topics? Free-for-all discussion? (Remember that we'll probably be in a big room, with perhaps as many as 100-150 attendees.) * Some ideas for topics (which I'll add to as people make suggestions): - A very brief review of modern cryptology (very brief because we need to move on quickly to the juicy stuff), including snapshot summaries of encryption, RSA (but no number theory!), anonymous mail, digital cash, etc. (Too many crypto panels spend the entire time bringing people up to speed on what prime numbers are, on how one-time pads are used, and so on. I favor giving people a good glimpse of the "exciting" stuff--anonymous mail, digital pseudonyms, information markets, dining cryptographers protocols, etc.--and then letting them go back and fill in the background. Give 'em a glimpse of the Promised Land.) - The uses of digital remailers to protect privacy, and progress on building them (a brief summary) - Possible summary of the "Crypto Anarchy Game" we've been experimenting with here in our Cypherpunks group (Note: we could describe it briefly and then invite folks to play it later that evening, perhaps around midnight) - PGP 2.0...what it is, how to get it, and how to use it - Proposed legislation for trapdoors in telephone equipment, and the possibility that crypto keys may be placed under strict controls (a la my recent post on Dorothy Denning's latest trial balloon) - What we can do about these trends, what we as hackers can do to protect our privacy. Things like: deploying encrypted e-mail as quickly as possible, using digital pseuodonyms, deploying "mixes," arguing for basic constitutional protections, etc. Ideally, people will get so worked up and excited that the rest of the Conference will be buzzing about these issues! Here's Glenn's message to me and my acceptance:
Considering your keen interest in cryptography, I was wondering if you could have your arm twisted to help pull together the crypto session for the conference?
It should be fairly easy... Let's see, Eric Hughes will be there, as will a couple of guys from BellCore (Sternetta and ... ??? ).
If so, plesae let me know and I'll pass on some more names.
Thanks much. Glenn Tenney
Of course I'll help. Anything needed, including what you suggest.
I'm in regular contact with Eric Hughes, John Gilmore, Fen LaBalme, Hugh Daniel, Keith Henson, and others. I also know Stu Haber, from Bellcore...if he could speak briefly about digital timestamping of documents (and Internet mail applicaitions) that would be timely.
So I'll so whatever I can.
BTW, I'll forward my latest posting from sci.crypt about proposals to require all crypto keys to be registered with the government! That, alone, is worth of a "hacker politics" discussion at Hackers.
--Tim (408-688-5409)
.......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^756839 | PGP 2.0 and MailSafe keys by arrangement.