Forwarded message:
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 04:05:48 +0200 (MET DST) Subject: Re: Remailers and ecash From: nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous)
A pinging system can be set up to verify that all the remailers are operating correctly.
It will certaily tell you if the system is network aware, as to internal operation and its validity it says nothing. If you want to test it you must send each remailer in the network a message with a final destination of the source. If you don't get it back you know the remailer is not online. This is called a 'loopback'.
Thus forwarding within the remailer network is free,
So as long as I only send traffic to other remailers the electricity and such are not charged? How does my local electric company measure this? If the remailer is turned on there is a cost. Unless you are getting charged by the packet the cost of operating is indipenant of the traffic until you have to increase your clogged pipe. Commercialy irrelevant approach.
insert new messages. This scheme is a little more flexible than attaching ecash to each message because you can arrange any type of fee schedule you like, such as a flat rate per month.
But it doesn't pay for the cover traffic. It also short changes the man-in-the-middle remailers since they have to spend resources without getting recompensed. This would indicate that there is little financial motive to operate a remailer that deals only with other remailers.
There's also the reverse of this, where remailers accept from anyone, but only send to other remailers. Thus you have to pay to get your messages out of the remailer network. This is more restrictive because the payment must be anonymous.
So what keeps me from submitting message after message and never pulling them out? I guess you just keep paying the bills to pay for the increasing traffic and the need to increase your pipe to carry it. Commercialy irrelevant. Also, consider the exponential expansion from cover traffic.
Sign up with an ISP that offers alt.anonymous.messages. This one is a no-brainer. (and profitable for the ISP)
This results in a system where sending messages is essentially free (since free remailers exist) but it costs money to receive them. So far it seems to be successful, at least for those who pay a flat fee for usenet access.
So what if I use a free-net or perhaps one of the free machines at the public library or at the local college? Or the system at work? ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there | | be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves. | | | | -Alan Greenspan- | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http:// www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage@ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|