Ken Landaiche writes: [...]
to which Jim McCoy responded:
Like what? When identity is "weak" then honor has no meaning...
That sounded reasonable to me until Crim Tideson asked:
I've created a pseudonym and a PGP key pair for that pseudonym. ... I have no intention of revealing who "me" actually is. ... I want to make and keep a reputation....
So honor may after all have meaning in cyberspace, as some code of behavior that preserves one's "reputation".
But if creating a new identity is as easy as creating a pseudonym and a PGP key pair then everyone could create several identities, one they use for "honorable" work and others that they use when attempting to hack in to AT&T or rob the digital bank...the lack of a link between the pseudonymns means that "dishonorable" pseudonyms are disposable and without a means for attaching a negative value to a reputation the reputation system as a whole has a major flaw. That is not to say that a system that provides for reputations with anonymity is impossible, but it is not possible given the tools that are currently available on the net. If you want to take a look at a system that would offer a workable base for a reputation system I would recomment that you start with some of the credential systems of Chaum, Evertse, and Damgard. This would provide a foundation of unique identities and a method for exchanging information linked to pseudonyms without giving up user privacy. jim