Responding to msg by nobody@ds1.wu-wien.ac.at () on Sun, 28 Aug 2:32 AM
So basically the protocols are interesting in an academic way, and we could sit here and discuss the possibilities, but then I suppose a discussion about atomic bombs will likely be of greater impact on our future than crypto anarchy will.
Out of your several thoughful comments this one strikes some sparks. Terror of nuclear weapons is universal. Nothing about crypto anarchy is terrifying (yet). A link between the two is not fanciful because of the challenge to those who hold secrets posed by crypto anarchy. One singularity of the nuclear arsenal was that few people actually know its capability. Its secrecy is a part of the threat. The same is true of the more general national security apparatus, most of whose power derives from privileged knowledge of weapon-systems capabilities. By extension of state power, under the rubric of national security, to other areas of government, often under the guise of intelligence and law enforcement needs, we have a society where a small number of economic, scientific, political, military and law enforcement persons hold privileged secrets and a very large citizenry who does not. Because of suspected abuse of privilege, these keepers of secrets are no longer trusted. Electoral politics, once thought to offer means to throw the scoundrels out, now feeds this suspicion, rather than relieving it, because little of entrenched power structures are changed by the voting process. The public process merely cosmetizes the means for exploiting the the secret privileges of the few. The crypto and related technological and civil issues discussed on this list might be viewed as exploring how to redirect the science and technology, heretofore used sustain a national security-driven economy, toward creating the apparatus for a more just and benefical civil society, one less fraught with military, police and economic insecurity and fear of the tools of privileged secrecy. Mastering cryptography and devising ways to put it to remunerative use are honorable and constructive alternatives to enduring unresponsive government. If successful they will set examples, and provide tools, for others to diminish state dependency. However, there is still the task of proving that crypto anarchy is not itself a play for power by those who write and master its cryptographic code. But better to test that in the public arena rather remain hidden and protected by state secrecy. Fierce opposition should be expected, not least by demonizing crypto anarchy. It will probably begin within the crypto anarchy enterprise under the guise of skeptical criticism and provocative baiting. It is worth recalling that classical black anarchy, the secret, lethal version as distinguished from open black flag type, is used by despots to justify their ruthless measures. Black anarchists, as agents of despots, mingle with avowed flag-wavers to spy and provoke acts that lead to repressive crackdowns. Black anarchists never announce themselves as such but may freely admit to being "anarchistic" as a wild-eyed subterfuge. Inept provocations sometimes reveal them but the most able are never detected. John